Teenage duo Liam Delap and James McAtee both came off the bench in City’s 4-1 FA Cup fourth round win over Fulham and Guardiola was proud of both their performances.
The victory represented Delap’s first senior outing of 2021/22 after recovering from an early season injury and, but for the offside flag, the 18-year-old would have marked the occasion with a goal from an Ilkay Gundogan cross.
Asked whether the young forward would continue to be a regular fixture across the campaign, Guardiola insisted that the decision would be influenced by Delap‘s continued hard work and desire to improve.
“The plan, he (Delap) will dictate to me. The plan depends on his behaviour and his performance,” the City boss declared.
“Now he is a player who trains every day with us.
“You cannot imagine the improvement from him, from Romeo (Lavia), from Luke Mbete, from (James McAtee). Of course, Cole Palmer was already with us last season.
“To train with us at this intensity, if they are open and humble enough to improve and want to do, after the plan depends on them and what they do on and off the pitch.
“(James McAtee) played exceptional.
“He was moving in the right spots, every action he touched, the action became better. We have a few like that.”
Hear the City boss’ thoughts in full via the video above...
