Eric Garcia will get a chance to play a lot of minutes, reveals Pep Guardiola

With injuries to a few first team stars in their back-line, Manchester City have been forced to use Fernandinho as a make-shift center-back. While the midfielder turned defender has done relatively well in the two appearances he’s made as a defender, it’s Eric Garcia that has really shined. The 18-year-old made his Premier League debut against Watford and did relatively well coming on as a second-half substitute.

It saw Guardiola praise the young starlet’s intelligence and ability on the ball, with the former Barcelona manager revealing that Garcia picked up on something that no-one else did. The club’s coaching staff and Guardiola himself were unsure as to how Watford were going to line-up at the back, with Garcia accurately identifying their plan.

“He played in the Carabao Cup [last season] and was outstanding. Tuesday he will play against Preston. Incredibly clever guy, able to lead the line. With the ball, incredible, knows absolutely everything. He pays attention in the warm up,” Guardiola told ManCity.com.

"We had doubts about whether Watford would play four or five in the back - and he saw they made some movements in their warm-up that they would play four at the back. He’s so clever. Played well. He’s going to play a lot of minutes,” concluded the Spaniard.