Eric Garcia will get a chance to play a lot of minutes, reveals Pep Guardiola

With injuries to a few first team stars in their back-line, Manchester City have been f♎orced to use Fernandinho as a make-shift center-back. While the midfielder turned defender has done relatively well in the two appearances he’s made as a defender, it’s Eric Garcia that has really shined. The 18-year-old made his Premier League debut against Watford and did relatively well coming on as a second-half substitute.

It saw Guardiola praise the young sta🥃rlet’s intelligence and ability on the ball, with the former Barcelona manager revealing that Garcia picked up on something that no-one else did. The club’s coaching staff and Guardiola himself w𓄧ere unsure as to how Watford were going to line-up at the back, with Garcia accurately identifying their plan.

“He played in the Carabao Cup [last season] and was outstanding. Tuesday he will play against Preston. Incredibly clever guy, able to lead the line. With the ball♋, incredible, knows absolutely everything. He pays attention in the warm up,” Guardiola told ManCity.com꧙.

"We had doubts about whether Watford would play four or five in the back - and he saw they made some movements in their warm-up that they would play four at the back. He’s so clever. Played well. He’s going to play a lot of mi🔥nutes,” concluded the Spaniard.