Guardiola credits surprise trio for Man City improvement

Pep Guardiola reckons Manchester City’s improvement this season is there for all to see – and credits three summer signings for playing a major role.

City once again spent heavily this summer and are currently joint top of the Premier League with neighbours, Manchester United.

But they’re arguably the league’s most exciting side to watch, having at the weekend hit Watford for six, just a week after blitzing Liverpool 5-0.

With Gabriel Jesus, Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne grabbing all the headlines, Guardiola actually thinks it is the arrival of Kyle Walker, Ben Mendy and Danilo that have helped them make considerable strides this season.

“The full-backs are so important,” said Guardiola. “They offer energy to go up and down so that means we can put more players in the middle, to play, to pass the sort passes.

“I like it when we play short passes through the middle, five, six metres, that gives us continuity. We create the spaces behind the press. To do that you need more players in one position.

“And Kyle, Danilo and Mendy help us a lot to be able to do that. Without that it would be even more complicated.”