Pep Guardiola has coached a lot of players throughout his career, and many of them would make it into the starting XI of the best players of the 21st century. He watched Lionel Messi grow from a boy who was so shy his team-mates thought he was a mute into the best player of all time. He watched Xavi Hernandez take his place in the Barcelona team and then, as manager, enjoyed the midfielder's best days.
He observed the rise of Andres Iniesta, of whom he famously told Xavi: "You will retire me but this kid will retire us all". At Bayern Munich, he worked with Thomas Muller, Arjen Robben, Thiago Alcantara and Robert Lewandowski, to name but a few. At City, he has had Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, Bernardo Silva, Sergio Aguero and now Erling Haaland.
But in the summer of 2019, without being asked, he volunteered who he thought was the most talented player he had ever worked with. To widespread bafflement, he chose a 19-year-old who at the time had only made three Premier League starts. He chose Phil Foden.