Guardiola hopes talents can come through as Man City version of the Class of '92

Pep Guardiola is hoping that Manchester City's young talents can all can come through as a Blue version of the Class of '92.

And a manager who helped nurture a great Barcelona team which was based around home-grown talent thinks that the kind of passion shown by his youngsters in midweek could prove crucial.

City won 3-1 at Manchester United in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final, with Stockport lad Phil Foden getting some more minutes under his belt.

But the fact that his fellow Stopfordian Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Cheshire lad Tommy Doyle were in the away end at Old Trafford, cheering the team, also pleased the boss greatly.

All three are City fans as well as being exciting young prospects, and to have players whose hearts belongs at the club is invaluable.

Asked if this crop of players could form the nucleus of the City team in years to come, Guardiola said: “I would like to answer by saying yes, but I really don't know.

“It is hard to say what young players will do in the future. But obviously they are Man City fans.

“When I saw the clip of them in the stand at Old Trafford, supporting us, it was good.

“Phil came on at the end as well – and they are all mates. But I don't know what's going to happen because it is about how they develop to be better players.

“Hopefully they will do it because it is good when the players have a relationship like that with the club. But they are young – and we have to wait.”

The parallel with Barcelona, where Xavi, Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique all progressed, and were all fans of the club, has also been made.

Guardiola said: “With Busquets and Pedro we were together for a year, working in the second team. So I knew them really well when I took over the first team.

“Pique, when he came back from Man United to Barcelona, in the beginning he didn't play. I saw him a little bit but older players like Puyol were better prepared and it was only afterwards that Pique showed he is one of the best central defenders of all time in world-wide football. The other players I saw in training sessions.

“I would like to help the young players here in the same way, but this is a club that is so demanding. You have to win games.

“Even when you win four titles here it isn't enough – and that is the truth. We won four titles last season and it wasn't enough because we didn't win the Champions League.

“That is the reality – and the young players here have to compete against incredible central defenders and incredible midfielders.

“It is a tough reality that exceptional players like Phil Foden don't play the minutes they should because we have other incredible players.

“Just look at the midfield we had at Old Trafford – and they all played so well. That is the truth here but, at the end, it depends on what they do.

“I have two eyes but Txiki (Begiristain) and my coaches also watch all the players and when someone is really special and we think they can do it then they will have a chance.”

Guardiola hs come under repeated pressure to play Foden more often, but he has played more minutes than stars like Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva had at his age, while Aston Villa have been praised for the way they protected and nurtured the talent of Jack Grealish, who is likely to present City with their greatest threat on Sunday.

Said Guardiola: “The situation with Phil is that he has played more minutes than Jack Grealish at Villa because of the guys in the same position as Phil and sometimes maybe it is the same with Jack Grealish.

“Maybe the minutes he played were because three of four central defenders were injured. Sometimes it happens in this situation.

“The importance is the value of the credit and the way Phil has played has been incredible. I think he has played well and enough minutes, but if we have many, many injuries in that position he will play more minutes, we know that.

“Phil is an incredible player but he still has things to improve. Sometimes it takes time to understand exactly what he has to do.

"Sometimes you have to be patient. But when I say many times that David is going to leave this season we are not going to buy any player in his position because we have Phil.

“Maybe this season Phil will have more minutes, or maybe less, I don't know. We trust Phil.

“If with we didn't believe in him we might go to the market to replace David, but we have Phil.

“He is the guy who is going to take his minutes or maybe he has to fight with Kevin, Gundo and Bernardo can play in that position. So it's the only way to maintain the level as high as possible.”