Txiki Begiristain reveals ‘main’ player Manchester City were excited to show Pep Guardiola upon joining in 2016

Manchester City had one player in particular that they were most keen to unveil to Pep Guardiola upon the Catalan’s arrival at the club in the summer of 2016.

That is according to the words of current director of football Txiki Begiristain, who has been in his position at the Etihad Stadium since 2012 having joined the Manchester City project from FC Barcelona.

In a 13-year tenure that has brought remarkable success on the pitch via his multitude of top-level signings and talent identification, Begiristain will now leave the club at the end of the ongoing season with a view towards reduced day-to-day involvement within the game.

But there is no doubt that the 60-year-old will have left his mark on both the history of Manchester City, as well as the future of the club through his astute range of signings and progressing of youth talent into the first-team picture.

One name that will play a significant role in that future success will be Phil Foden; a player that Begiristain has spoken about this week and the moment in which the England international first appeared on Pep Guardiola’s radar.

Speaking during a new documentary produced by Manchester City and centred around the rise and career of Foden thus far, Txiki Begiristain has explained the excitement around unveiling the player to Guardiola back in 2016.

“We prepared some clips of players for Pep [Guardiola] to take a look at [upon joining Manchester City in 2016] and let’s say, Phil [Foden] was maybe the main one,” said Txiki Begiristain.

Phil Foden has since gone on to play a remarkable role in Manchester City’s success since working alongside Pep Guardiola from the 2017/18 campaign onwards, and is expected to record his 300th appearance for the club at just 24-years-old this season.

As for Txiki Begiristain, the Spanish director is set to bring an end to his time with the reigning Premier League champions at the end of the ongoing season, and the club have in-turn already lined up his replacement.

It is widely understood that Sporting CP’s director of football Hugo Viana has agreed a deal with the club over becoming their new sporting director from early 2025, undergoing a six-month introductory period before entirely taking the reigns from the summer window.