The Bulgarian, who moved to the Blues from Atletico Madrid last week, looked sharp during his appearance in the first half of Wednesday night’s friendly at Shrewsbury and Sven was one of the many impressed by the player’s display.
Sven said: “That was very positive. You can see he is an experienced player with an extremely good left foot, crossing the ball, passing the ball, shooting and from set-pieces of course, it’s good to have a player like him.
“He’s quick, can dribble and he will be very useful for us. It seems like we are going to have a very young team so one with his experience will be important.
“He seems to be a very confident young man with a lot of experience for his country and in different leagues.”
The game at the New Meadow Stadium featured a different City side either side of the break, and while he runs through the various options in front of him the Manager says that he has a good idea what will happen when the Premier League season kicks off at Upton Park.
“I have in my head what we want to do in the first game against West Ham. We’ll see against Valencia and what will happen with the new players. I said when I signed for City that we were short on time because of the takeover and I came in late. But that’s the only way to do it, I know we are late [with signings], but we can’t do anything about that. We have to live with that and try to be as good as possible as quickly as possible.”
Four of City’s seven summer signings started the match on Wednesday, and Sven thinks they have settled in well to their new surroundings.
“I think they are settling in and of course it is difficult in the beginning. It’s a new country, different type of football maybe, and a lot of new teammates. I think they are settling in very well. They are young players, hungry and they want to chase the Premier League, so it will be a good season.
“It’s a very good test on Saturday against Valencia. There we won’t be changing 11 players, we will be giving the players as long as possible on the pitch.”
Tickets for the Thomas Cook Trophy match are on sale now, priced at £20, and £15 for Seasoncard holders if bought on Friday. Concessions are priced at £5. The Box Office at the City of Manchester stadium will remain open until 8pm on Friday, and will reopen at 9am on Saturday morning.
Tickets bought on match day will be priced at £20 for all adults and £5 for concessions, which can also be bought from Box Office South from midday.
