Guardiola's delight at new arrivals on and off the pitch

The Blues have brought in Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Marcus Bettinelli and Rayan Cherki in recent weeks and all four are part of the Club World Cup squad with our campaign starting on Wednesday against Wydad AC.

The boss says the quality the new arrivals will add to his team will make a huge difference in the season to come.

“We’re really pleased because they all have huge quality in different positions,” said Guardiola.

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“They bring what we need and with this incredible amount of games we had at the end of the season, 11 months every three or four days is like this tournament, everyone is going to play.

“I don’t know how far we will be, but everyone will be involved, of course a few will play more minutes than the others but everyone will play because the season has to be like that.

“The last part of season when we were out of the Champions League we had long weeks and it was difficult to rotate, but these guys play 11 months every three or four days, we rest a bit as a manager but they go to the national team.

“Look at Bernardo [Silva] and Ruben [Dias] for example, they play the Nations League final, have one or two days then they come back here ready.

“[It’s] Non-stop, when we come back, it depends when we finish this tournament but we have a few days and then come back for the Premier League start.

“That’s why I’m happy to have these players, hopefully they can help us to adapt as quickly as possible.”

The boss also welcomed the new coaches that have joined his backroom staff – but first paid tribute to those who had left the Club.

“First of all I would say an enormous thank you to Juanma Lillo for the last seasons we were together but they decided to stop,” he said.

“And after that Carlos Vicens as well, like in the past with Mikel [Arteta] and Enzo [Maresca], they go to their own career, and [Carlos] to Portugal with Braga.

“We wish him the best of luck and all the best, that’s why we try to bring people to help us, not just me, the team to try to win games.

“After it’s a good opportunity for Pep [Lijnders] and James [French], Kolo Toure was already with the Under-18s and we saw him working with the academy with us and had an incredible reference.

“They will help us make a good season.

“We had a conversation with Jurgen [Klopp, former Liverpool manager] but not about Pep Lijnders.

“We just talked on the subject, as always we had a long conversation and in a certain moment I suggested I was thinking about Pep and he gave his opinion.

“It was of course so high, he was his right hand in one of the most successful periods of Liverpool in their last years.

“Then after I took the time to decide and reflect then decided to get in touch with Pep.

“Of course he had experience many years, I asked permission from Jurgen of course because I didn’t want to interfere much, I said to him would it be a problem to talk to him, he said absolutely not.

“We talked a bit then in one or two days we decided. I’m fortunate, the assistant managers I had in my career, Barcelona, Bayern, and here I’ve had a lot, wow everyone helped me incredibly.

“I’ve been so fortunate since Domenec [Torrent], Juanma [Lillo], Mikel, Enzo, they made me a better manager.

“I’m pretty sure Kolo and Pep will help me. It’s a question of back and forth, his knowledge, I dream from his knowledge.

“And every day since we met, we talk a lot about tactics, football, training and it’s been so inspiring for me. I’m really pleased for that, and we’ll see what happens in the future.”