Premier League: Pep Guardiola determined to prove himself in England

New Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says he has chosen to move to a Premier League club in order to prove his worth as a manager in England. The Spaniard was presented at the Etihad Stadium in front of 7,000 Manchester City fans last weekend. "That is why I am here. I proved myself in Barcelona and after I proved myself in Germany I wanted to prove myself in England," Guardiola said. "I cannot do that alone. I need the players, the staff. We need our fans. Without that, it is impossible."

The Spanish boss joins City after a three-year spell at Bayern Munich where he won all three Bundesliga titles but failed to reach the final of the Champions League. He did win the Champions League twice with Barcelona, along with three Primera Liga titles, two Spanish Cups and two FIFA Club World Cups. "I like the players who don't just think for themselves but think about Manchester City," Guardiola added. "We are all the people who are working here. The reason we are here is thinking 'what can we do to make this club a better club'. I don't want the guys to think about what the club can do for them. We are here to make Manchester City a better club in the next three, four, five years."

Guardiola also confirmed that the new club policy is to develop young players: "One of the reasons I decided to come to Manchester City is I know from sporting director Txiki Begiristain how good they are working with the young players - 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, they grow and grow and imagine they can join us in the first team." Ilkay Gundogan, the first signing of the summer for Manchester City, said: "I have no doubt Pep will form a great team, a competitive team. He was the biggest influence in me coming here. The team has a lot of talent, and he's the best manager in the world. It's a really exciting time and we are looking forward to it."

Manchester City are 9/4 at Bet365 to win the Premier League title next season.