The 57-year-old spent two years at the Etihad Stadium, as part of Pep’s team, helping us to two Premier League titles and a League Cup, as well as reaching the 2021 UEFA Champions League final.
He will be in the dugout at Wembley on Sunday, as we kick off the new season in the Community Shield against Arsenal at 16:00 (UK).
City v Arsenal | How to watch on TV
“Juanma is the best assistant in the bad moments,” Guardiola said after his return was confirmed today.
“In the good ones, I don’t need anyone - just open the champagne to celebrate together.
“Juanma, beyond his knowledge about football, who can identify specific things with football players, he is a massive human being.
“All the staff and players are delighted to see him back.”
He will not be the only new face at Wembley with new signing Mateo Kovacic in the squad following his summer switch from Chelsea.
With the transfer window closing on 1 September, there is still the possibility of more movement within the squad.
Potential interest from other clubs in Kyle Walker and Bernardo Silva has been speculated about for much of the summer but the City boss says he wants both players to stay.
“Kyle and Bernardo what can I say? They are so important for us,” Guardiola said in his press conference.
“We are going to do everything. We want him to stay, we will do everything. To replace these players is so so difficult.
“We lost two incredible players for us, Gundogan and Riyad was massively important in the last two seasons, goals, assists and personality on the big occasions and important games.
“To lose Kyle and Bernardo would be so difficult. That’s why we are going to do everything to keep them because they want to be here.”
CITY V ARSENAL APP COVERAGE
As always, the best place to follow Sunday’s Community Shield is on the official Man City app.
The Wembley clash with Arsenal starts at 16:00 (UK) but we’ll have live text updates from 14:00 (UK) and running all afternoon via our Matchday Centre.
Our Matchday Live programme begins just before team news at 15:00, with Kevin Campbell, Keith Curle and Paul Dickov in the studio.
We’ll also have City fans FG and Big Steve at Wembley, giving us a taste of the atmosphere.
Once the game gets going, it’s over to Alistair Mann and Michael Brown for radio commentary before we throw back to the studio and half-time and full-time.
We’ll get all the reaction first and fastest from Pep Guardiola and his City players - no matter the result!
Then highlights will follow on Monday, as well as a full-match replay for CITY+ and Recast subscribers.
