Pep pinpoints youngster as reason next season can be great too

PEP Guardiola namechecked Aleks Zinchenko as he listed reasons for City to be positive about their future.

The Blues have annihilated all comers this season, and a 3-1 win over Brighton gives them the best Premier League campaign ever seen in terms of points and goals accrued.

The next challenge for City and their manager is to defend that title next season, something no team has been able to do for a decade.

Guardiola is not pretending it will be easy but saw plenty from their latest victory to give him confidence for the future – including the performance of his 21-year-old Ukranian at leftback.

“When I decided to come here it was because I knew a lot of people on the board, especially Txiki [Begiristain] and Ferran [Soriano]”, said Guardiola.

“We came here together to build something good, and we lived it this season.

“We are so satisfied with the progress, and that belongs to us. We were so happy playing football for nine or 10 months, it is not just results.

“You cannot break the records if you do not make almost a perfect season in terms of consistency.

“Today we could have said it doesn’t matter, but no – all 11 players committed, Zinchenko playing full-back controlled [Anthony] Knockaert, who is one of the best wingers and so dangerous – there are a lot of good signals for our future.

“If I’m able to convince them to maintain and win again, we will be there.”