Man City news: Pep Guardiola on Nico O’Reilly

Manchester-born Nico O’Reilly has seized his chance this season given the injury absences of Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji and John Stones.

He has been deployed as an inverted left-back, often drifting into midfield, and his forward runs have contributed to Manchester City’s attacking threat.

Pep Guardiola’s experiment has been working, but he still considers the 20-year-old to be an attacking midfielder despite his strong performances at full-back.

“The impact has been good,” said Guardiola. “We now have one game a week, so Nico has to recover and he has to see if he can play every three day like Bernardo [Silva] has proven, or Kevin [de Bruyne] and Ruben [Dias] have proven.

“I don’t know if these young players are able to play three games a week during a month. But it’s a reality already.

“I admire a lot that he is playing in a position he has never played before. He is learning. Of course, he has to improve, but with the ball it’s good.”

O’Reilly scored City’s crucial first goal against Everton on Saturday and Guardiola praised the 20 year old for his impact.

“His position is – I’m pretty sure – attacking midfielder and every cross he is on the penalty spot,” Guardiola said. “That’s what I like as an attacking midfielder.

“I’m pretty sure [he is a midfielder], otherwise he doesn’t score the goals like he has scored so far. He likes to be there, he has a good shot and quality in small spaces and it’s helping us.”