Guardiola delighted with Guéhi signing for City | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola is delighted that Manchester City were able to complete a deal for Marc Guéhi and that the defender chose to move to the Etihad.

Men's Team

City complete Marc Guéhi signing

The 25-year-old England international has completed his move from Crystal Palace, signing a five-and-a-year deal that will take him through to the summer of 2031.

Guéhi is not able to play in the Champions League until the knockout stages so is not with the squad for our game with Bodo/Glimt on Wednesday at 17:45 (UK).

But Guardiola is in Norway ahead of the game and spoke about his happiness that City were able to conclude the move for a player he believes has a huge future with the Club.

“[He’s a] top central defender, played for the national team. I will say my personal thanks to the club,” the boss said in his pre-match news conference.

“He is the perfect age for many years, he can play right or left. And him especially because he wanted to choose us.

“The problem we have at the back in the next few months so it’s really important that he is here.”

Guéhi’s arrival will help with our injury crisis, particularly in defence with Josko Gvardiol, Ruben Dias, John Stones and Matheus Nunes all unavailable, although Rayan Ait-Noui is back from the African Cup of Nations.

It is also a young squad gaining experience and Guardiola says the players are learning quickly despite our disappointing 2-0 defeat to Manchester United on Saturday.

“Newcastle away we looked ready, three days later we are not. This inconsistency is normal,” he added.

“We have 11 absences today. And we have many players who have not been here one year, you need time.

“We make seven wins in a row, it’s because we have Matheus, Ruben, Josko and Nico, playing games and that gives you consistency.

“I love to rotate the team but when you have a consistent back four, it helps. When you have a situation like we have right now, it is normal we have some ups and downs.

“Accept it. It happens. Ait-Nouri listens to a lot of things. Not even one year, Khusa is here, Max Alleyne a few weeks. We accept who we are and try to be better in the next games.”

While he was positive about the injury situation, the boss also said that playing on Bodo’s artificial pitch cannot be an excuse to underperform.

“There are two arguments with that, the first is it is different, that’s why we train here the night before - never since I’m here in Manchester we have never done that,” Guardiola said. “But we have to see how the ball bounces and the short passes.

“The second argument is life is never easy. If you start to cry, you can’t achieve what we have achieved in the past.

“We were always positive, looked in the mirror and said what we have to do. There are situations you can’t control.”