Pep Guardiola has heaped praise on Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko following their moves away from the Etihad Stadium this summer.
Manchester City have seen a major overhaul of their first-team squad ahead of the new campaign, with four new arrivals, including formidable forward Erling Haaland, who completed a £51 million transfer from Borussia Dortmund.
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The Premier League Champions have also seen numerous exits from the Etihad Stadium, as Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko joined veteran midfielder Fernandinho in exiting the club over the summer.
Jesus and Zinchenko have both moved to Arsenal, where the former City duo will be reunited with Gunners boss Mikel Arteta, at the Emirates Stadium.
Raheem Sterling, who was Guardiola's most used player during his tenure at the Etihad Stadium, completed a £47.5 million transfer to Chelsea, ending speculation surrounding the 27 year-olds long-term future.
The trio each won four Premier League titles with the Sky Blues, and having all played an integral role in the Champions' sustained recent success, have been hailed by boss Pep Guardiola in a brand new interview.
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Speaking in an extended interview with CityTV ahead of his seventh campaign at the helm in East Manchester, Guardiola lauded the trio, despite the fact they completed transfers to Premier League rivals.
“All we have done these seasons, without them it would have not been possible,” said the Catalan, as he individually lauded the three players.
Reflecting on Raheem Sterling's illustrious career with City, Guardiola said: "Raheem has been the pace and we are a team that make all the passes and he makes this explosion. There’s something incredible, unpredictable [about] his runs in the right, left.
“I saw how he grew up in his ambition to score goals, to make an assist, and [became] more hungry, and more, in the good terms, selfish to say, I want more goals.
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“He’s a guy who can play every three days, he would never get injured. He was top."
Meanwhile, Zinchenko, who gave an emotional departing interview in the US prior to his £30 million move to North London, was also highly praised by the 51 year-old.
“Oleks arrived as a boy, coming from Ukraine, and he went on loan to Holland and came back and we wanted to loan him again, we wanted to sell him again.
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“He said, ‘no, I want to stay.’ He was in the gym when everyone was sleeping and making extra training sessions when the training session was over, and he said, ‘my time will come’ and his time came, and he was there, he was ready, and he played incredibly well.
“He’s a top-class player and we will miss him a lot."
Gabriel Jesus, who signed for Manchester City as a teenager, scored one of the most iconic goals in the Blues' history, and played a key role in City's most recent Premier League title victory, scoring 13 goals during the campaign.
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Reflecting on the Brazilian's time at the Etihad, Guardiola said: “Gabriel, maybe is the nicest person I ever worked with. It was a huge task to be alongside and to compete with the legend of this club, Sergio Aguero.
“Sergio Aguero had scored a lot of goals with us. So Gabriel, a young, young player from Brazil, comes to compete with him, and he was all the time ready to accept everything.
“He’s the best striker/defender I ever found to play in the three positions. [He] can play five minutes, he plays the best five minutes of his life. He plays 90 minutes, he will give everything.
“I had the feeling that in most cases we will miss him, but it’s football, it’s life, and the successes, all of them, will be our happiness."
The Catalan also revealed that it had been a privilege to manage all three players: “Hopefully they can enjoy in Chelsea, Raheem, and Arsenal, Oleks and Gabriel. What we have done in these seasons, everyone was involved and all three were important.
“It was a privilege for me to be their manager, and I’m very fortunate to have these players in the last six seasons to help.”
Topics: Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Arsenal, Chelsea
Harry Winters