Manchester City: 'It is special for me in the Premier League, I am a lucky guy to be here,' says Pep Guardiola

Eleven years ago, after a trial under previous manager Stuart Pearce, Guardiola admits he left City with his dream of playing in English football dead and buried

Pep Guardiola will make his Premier League debut against Sunderland (Getty)

Pep Guardiola will arrive on the Premier League stage with the fanfare you would expect of a two-time Champions League winner when Manchester City face Sunderland at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening, but he wasn’t always quite so appreciated in the blue half of Manchester.

Eleven years ago, after a trial under previous manager Stuart Pearce, Guardiola admits he left City with his dream of playing in English football dead and buried.

"The training place then was further away from here, and it was windy,” Guardiola recalled, as he discussed his new role ahead of the curtain-raiser against Sunderland. “Stuart was so, so kind with me.

“I trained for a week, I fought to stay, and he offered me a half-year contract for six months.

“But I said I cannot live without my family for six months, because of the kids being at school, so it was a little bit complicated.

"Then one day I went to sleep and I decided that my dream to play in the Premier League was gone. That time had gone.”

Guardiola will finally taste the Premier League today, when he takes the first step in his City journey against David Moyes’s team.

Having struggled to convince City of his value back in 2005, the 45-year-old arrived at the Etihad Stadium earlier this summer as the most sought-after coach in world football -- a man credited with transforming the game during a glittering four-year spell in charge of Barcelona between 2008 and 2012.

Guardiola’s close relationship with director of football Txiki Begiristain, the former Barcelona sporting director, ensured that City would always lead, and win, the race to lure him to England, but now that he is here, he is ready for the challenge, insisting it will not be the most demanding of his stellar career.

“No,” he said. “The hardest test is always the first one because, without the first one, you don’t arrive to the second one.

“I was promoted to the coach of Barcelona’s first-team because I was successful in the previous experience with the second team, so it is not the hardest one.

“But of course it is special for me in the Premier League. I know I will be judged in terms of results, but for me, I am a lucky guy to be here.

“I know the expectations are high and I know if we don’t win, it will be a big disappointment for the people - the media and fans.

“It is what is is and I have to handle that.”

Having won six of the last seven domestic titles he has contested with Barcelona and Bayern Munich -- Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid in 2012 were the only team to halt Guardiola’s procession -- Guardiola arrives at City with a proven philosophy, based on possession, starting from the back, and a high intensity pressing game which demands retrieval of the ball within seconds of it being lost.

Guardiola’s blueprint has work in Spain, Germany and in the Champions League, and although he accepts the nuances and challenges of the Premier League, he insists he will not be changing his approach.

“The basics, no,” he said. “I speak to the players what I feel and believe. If I don’t believe what I feel when I’m talking about it, then they are not going to believe me, not going to follow me.

“Of course, the coach always adapts to the quality of the players, how they connect with each other.

“You have to see how they react with each other, in the bad and good moments and how many players immediately understand (clicks fingers) what we are looking for (clicks again), and the players who need more time.

“For that, to create something, the people can not imagine how difficult it is.

“The people come on Saturday and want to see the best City ever. That is impossible, I swear now I cannot do that.

“But I can convince the players to put something on the field - not depending on the tactic, on the opponents, but something for themselves, on the inside (beats chest). We need to do that.

“To create something we need time. To create something with ideas to attack, we need time. But to play with soul, with something inside, we don't need time.”

Pep Guardiola was not amused by the organisation of Manchester City's China trip earlier this summer (Getty)

With Arsene Wenger suggesting that as many as nine clubs begin the season with realistic hopes of contesting the title race, Guardiola, accustomed to two-horses races in Spain and a Bayern monopoly in Germany, insists the competitive edge is a huge attraction.

“We are agreed that it is the only league where many, many teams can win the title,” Guardiola said. “That’s why I’m here.

“But who will be the biggest challengers? Maybe ask this question in two, three months.

“I understand the question, it’s my second press conference, so you ask me. I am new, you know the Premier League better than me - that’s the truth.

“I need time to know what Stoke City next week means, what the Etihad Stadium means. I have to figure it out.”

Guardiola will not be afforded time by an impatient fan base desperate to reclaim top spot after two years of regression under Manuel Pellegrini, however.

“I like the fans expecting as much as possible,” Guardiola said. “They have to do that.

“Of course we are here to win titles, but there are six, seven, eight big Premier League teams.

“It's so important to win, for our self-confidence, so people can trust. When that happens, you know the players can make a step forward.

“But to play with something we have inside, the pleasure to play football, to have fun, I want to play good.”

A champion in Spain and Germany, will success in the Premier League give Guardiola a sense of career fulfilment?

“Winning the title increases your numbers on you CV, but to speak about your CV is the most boring thing,“ he said. “To see who has better numbers than you in the group gives me no pleasure.

“It's about imagining how you would like this team to play in England. Success without playing the way you like to play means nothing to me."