Pep Guardiola admits he may have over-exaggerated when describing Manchester City’s Matheus Nunes as one of the best players in the world

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has admitted that he may have over-exaggerated when he described midfielder Matheus Nunes as one of the best players in the world. City signed Nunes in a £53 million deal from Wolves in the summer and the Portugal international was handed his first Premier League start for the champions in the 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Nunes has been on City’s radar for a while and after their 5-0 win over Sporting CP in the Champions League in February 2022, Guardiola said of the midfielder: ‘I would say that Matheus Nunes is one of the best players in the world today.’

But when reminded of his comments after City’s win over Forest, Guardiola said: ‘Maybe I over-exaggerated a little bit. He’s not. He’s a really good player but sometimes… maybe I said this comment after a 5-0. But he’s an exceptional player. Exceptional, exceptional player.’

Matheus Nunes’ Start to Life at Manchester City

Despite backtracking over his previous comments, Guardiola says he has been impressed with Nunes’ start to life at City. ‘Really good,’ Guardiola said. ‘Sometimes I say stay more calm in the position [but he is] dynamic. In the game today he’d get the ball, dribble and drop the opponents down. He looks like he is never tired because his actions are 15, 20 metres, but we knew it at Sporting Lisbon, has done it as well at Wolves. We asked [Julen] Lopetegui, who is a friend of ours, how is he and all the opinions were really, really good and he’s special as a runner, has good finishing, defensively, can play in two or three positions.

So yeah, the last two games played against Red Bull and today was a key point, was really, really important.’

Pep Guardiola’s High Praise for Matheus Nunes

Despite his initial comments about Nunes being one of the best players in the world, Guardiola has been full of praise for the midfielder since his arrival at Manchester City. From his dynamic style of play to his ability to play in multiple positions, Guardiola has been impressed with Nunes’ performances so far.

Nunes has already shown glimpses of his potential and if he continues to impress, then Guardiola’s initial comments may not be too far off the mark.

Conclusion

Matheus Nunes has made an impressive start to life at Manchester City and Pep Guardiola has been full of praise for the midfielder. Although Guardiola may have over-exaggerated when he initially described Nunes as one of the best players in the world, he is certainly showing signs that he could become one of the best players in Europe.

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