Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says that young midfielder Douglas Luiz will be part of his first-team squad next season.
The 20-year-old midfielder, who can play just in front of the defence or in a more attacking role, spent last season on loan at La Liga side Girona and helped them to an impressive 10th place league finish.
The Brazilian wonderkid joined City from Vasco De Gama in July last year for a reported £10.8million (TransferMarkt) but is yet to make his senior debut for Guardiola’s side.
However, speaking in City’s Community Shield press conference, Guardiola said that Luiz is ready to play in the senior team.
#PEP: @dg_douglas08 is ready to play in the first team. We believe he can play with us. #mancity
— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 3, 2018
“Douglas Luiz is ready to play in the first team,” Guardiola said in the official Man City press conference.
“We believe he can play with us.”
OPINION
It’s very rare that a young player gets first team action for a top four club after going on a loan spell in the previous year, even if they do well, sometimes managers think it’s simply too much of a risk when they could be sacked early on in the season, so it’s understandable that they think short-term. However, in this case, Pep Guardiola has promoted Douglas Luiz to the senior team after a wonderful loan spell with Girona, in which he performed very well indeed. It’s great for City fans that Guardiola is keeping track of his young players and giving them a chance when he can. Instead of splashing out big money on a midfield backup for Fernandinho, Luiz can do that role very well and will improve year on year by being involved with talented players on a daily basis. Big things are expected of the 20-year-old, City fans will hopefully be seeing a lot more of him over the coming season.