Ilkay Gundogan has suggested Pep Guardiola is a superior manager to Jurgen Klopp, claiming the former Barcelona boss is “probably the best in the world”.
Gundogan played under Klopp at Borussia Dortmund, winning the Bundesliga in 2011-12 and reaching the final of the Champions League a year later.
The midfielder joined City in June and is now witnessing first-hand the talent of Guardiola, who frequently thwarted Klopp and Dortmund’s Bundesliga ambitions during his time in charge of Bayern Munich.
“Both are world-class managers with their own qualities,” Gundogan was quoted as saying by the Express.
“It wouldn’t be fair to say Jurgen is more emotional but when you see him on the sidelines living every minute, it’s not hard to understand why Dortmund were so successful under him.
“Pep is equally passionate but in a different way. He is more like a genius who reads the game and covers every situation imaginable. He is always showing us how to create space and find solutions and there is no manager like him, which makes him probably the best in the world.”
City defeated Bournemouth 4-0 on Saturday as their impressive start to the 2016-17 season continued, Gundogan hailing the focus and adaptability of his new team-mates.
“We’re really happy to have this quality in the squad,” he said.
“There is still potential to get better but every single game is a new one, starting from zero. From what I’ve seen so far we need to be very flexible because no one will stay for 30 minutes in the same role because we are changing all the time.
“The most important thing is that we have a good build-up and that every player knows what he has to do so it doesn’t matter which role the manager gives us.”
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