Pep Guardiola pays Celtic kudos as Man City boss slots Hoops into 'massively important' plan for Citizens
Man City face Celtic midweek in a friendly.
Pep Guardiola says a friendly with Celtic forms a major part of his pre-season plans at Man City.
The English Premier League champions take on the Premiership team to beat in a friendly during Wednesday’s early hours. Celtic are in America for pre-season training and after a 4-0 win over DC United on Saturday, now face a huge test against the Citizens.
Guardiola’s men are ramping up for their new season south of the border with some star-studded names to play. But he provides a compliment to Celtic in his address and hope for no injuries. The former Barcelona and Bayern manager said when asked what success looks like against Celtic and the rest of their US tour: “No injuries. That would be a big success we can have.
“We don’t come here for the four trophies, we come here to have no injuries, to step up where we are. 80 or 85 per cent of the team is from the young Academy players – the experience will be good.
“We get to play against of course, Celtic, in Scotland a top team. After it’s Milan, come on, Barcelona and Chelsea. These guys playing against these teams, it’s a good experience to see how they can compete. It’s massively important for all of us, for them.
“I want to see all of them. I’m curious to see James McAtee especially, coming back from Sheffield. I have a high opinion of him. I would love to have him and keep him next season with us. He’s a special guy who can play in space in the pockets. I think he grew up in terms of physicality and mentality, when you play in the Premier League fighting for relegation you get something special.”