Pep Guardiola: Best is yet to come from Leroy Sane

“This season it’s going to be hard because Man United, Arsenal and Chelsea have reinforced their squads, spent a lot of money, and have very good players”.

“In the past it didn’t happen, years ago, and that is good for our future”.

Wijnaldum, who had struggled with injury and illness in the first weeks of pre-season, was the only one of that quartet to start in a mixed side in New Jersey. He scored twice in the 5-0 victory over Liverpool but it wasn’t until another brilliant double in the 2-1 Carabao Cup victory at West Brom that it seemed he was finally up to full speed.

Guardiola meanwhile said he was relieved no players were injured.

It could depend on whether these sides put stronger lineups out, but if the last game was anything to go by, this will be a game filled with young stars hoping to make a name for themselves. “He didn’t deserve to play”. “And it was a pleasure, an honour really, to sit in on his training sessions and the trip to Qatar”, Kovac told reporters. They are set to play Chelsea in the Community Shield on August 5 before starting the defence of their Premier League title at Arsenal six days later.

Liverpool will head into the new Premier League season with a top class goalkeeper and two brand new midfielders that are borderline world class in their own rights. But in that moment, the manager, the staff, the owners, my teammates and the fans showed me that they understand that a great football club doesn’t just think about football.

The first half was a dour affair but the ICC clash came to life after the break following the introductions of Salah and Mane as Liverpool bounced back from their 3-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund. He has to come back. “We made some changes and in the last few minutes, Liverpool deserved to score goals”.

Certainly Sane already has extra motivation to be at his very best.

“It is always a pleasure to be with other managers”.

Guardiola’s insatiable appetite for success is undiminished, as evidenced by a foray into the transfer market to acquire the services of former Footballer Of The Year Riyad Mahrez for a club record £60m.

Last season, Guardiola deployed him as a centre-midfielder in the title-winning City line-up and just like the previous years, the Spaniard shined in that role too which eventually turned out to be one his finest seasons.