Pep Guardiola says challenge to Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich dominance is a good thing

straight to your inboxNathan Ake has been signed to bolster Manchester City's central defensive options, but the new signing has hinted that manager Pep Guardiola plans to use him in midfield as well.Ake signed from Bournemouth in a £40m deal, becoming the first centre-back signing since Vincent Kompany departed last summer.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola's ego has prevented him from replicating his success at Barcelona, according to Germany legend Lothar Matthaus.Guardiola has not won the Champions League since leaving Barcelona, or even reached a final, but has won 13 domestic trophies - including five league titles - at Bayern Munich and Manchester City in eight seasons.That is not good enough for Matthaus, though, with the 1990 World Cup winner calling Guardiola 'egocentric' for his insistance on changing

straight to your inbox Leroy Sane has praised his former Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola for reprogramming his tactical awareness as he prepares to make his Bayern Munich debut. Sane played under Guardiola for four years at City, but his exit came in less than ideal circumstances following a season out injured, where the German winger informed the club he wouldn't be signing a new contract.

straight to your inbox Manchester City's hierarchy have always believed Lionel Messi would stay at Barcelona for the rest of his career... but that might have just changed.

straight to your inboxManchester City have always believed - with Pep Guardiola in charge and given the club’s riches - that they would be first in line should Lionel Messi ever leave Barcelona.And the day that many never thought we'd ever see may have finally come to pass.

straight to your inbox Aleks Zinchenko has defended his comments and those of his new wife Vlada Sedan about Manchester City's Champions League loss to Lyon. Pep Guardiola was heavily criticised after the 3-1 defeat in Lisbon last week, and the manager's tactics were disputed by sports presenter Sedan on her vlog as she discussed the game with Zinchenko.

straight to your inbox“When an ex-player makes the statement, it's not criticism, it's info,” said Pep Guardiola, back in February.That was the Manchester City manager’s response to comments by Thomas Muller, his former Bayern Munich charge, just before the Blues faced the huge challenge of tackling Real Madrid in the Bernabeu.Muller was full of praise for Guardiola, as are most of his former players, but he pinpointed one area where he felt that the former Bayern Munich boss sometimes fell

straight to your inboxManchester City's hierarchy have always believed Lionel Messi would stay at Barcelona for the rest of his career...

straight to your inboxHere are the latest Man City evening headlines for Tuesday August 18.Former Barcelona midfielder Xavi has encouraged Manchester City to back Pep Guardiola in the transfer market.Guardiola crashed out of the Champions League against Lyon last week, and is still to reach a Champions League final since departing the Spanish giants.

straight to your inboxSpain and Barcelona legend Xaxi Hernandez has urged Manchester City to back Pep Guardiola in the summer transfer market by securing marquee additions.City endured a disappointing campaign last term, finishing 18 points adrift of Liverpool in the Premier League and suffering a Champions League exit at the hands of Lyon.A host of names have been linked with a move to the Etihad Stadium this summer and Xavi believes that three players are needed in particular.However, he's set

straight to your inboxDavid Silva has issued praise to all three of the managers he played under at Manchester City, in his final interview before leaving the club.Silva was brought to the Etihad by Roberto Mancini, before seeing Manuel Pellegrini and Pep Guardiola also take the City hotseat in the last decade.As he prepares to leave City for a new challenge, Silva told City TV that Mancini made a strong effort to try and sign him while he was still a Valencia player."He used to call me quite

straight to your inboxManchester City have always believed - with Pep Guardiola in charge and given the club’s riches - that they would be first in line should Lionel Messi ever leave Barcelona.Is that reality now closer than ever? Reports this week suggest Messi could finally be willing to quit the Nou Camp over rising tensions with the club’s hierarchy following Barca's humiliating Champions League exit to Bayern Munich.The rumours have put clubs around the world on red alert, so surely City

straight to your inboxHere are your Manchester City morning headlines for Sunday, 16 August.Pep Guardiola says that Raheem Sterling’s glaring miss in Saturday’s defeat by Lyon was “part of the game.”The England international missed from point-blank range when City were trailing 2-1, before the Ligue 1 side added a third just a minute later to seal the tie.Speaking after the game, Guardiola said: “I haven't seen him. The players are going to talk now in the hotel.

straight to your inbox Pep Guardiola said that the team will discuss what went wrong in a hotel meeting after their Champions League crash against Lyon. The Manchester City manager was asked about Raheem Sterling ’s astonishing miss – which would have made it 2-2 – but Guardiola appeared to broaden it out into a post-mortem on the whole performance, which was littered with errors.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola refused to comment on the VAR decisions that went against Manchester City during their Champions League quarter-final defeat to Lyon.Maxwel Cornet opened the scoring for the French side in the first-half before Kevin De Bruyne finally levelled proceedings after the interval.City should have been ahead but Raheem Sterling missed an open goal from five yards out which sparked a counter-attack from Lyon.Moussa Dembele raced clear and appeared to trip Aymeric

straight to your inbox Sergio Aguero is running out of time to play any part in Manchester City 's Champions League challenge. The Blues are preparing to face Lyon in the quarter-final of the competition at the Jose Alvalade Stadium tomorrow night, and if they win they will be in the semi-final next week.