I didn't expect to play a minute for Man City - now Pep Guardiola wants me as his next first-team player

Nico O'Reilly didn't even expect to play on Manchester City's pre-season tour this summer. Now he's scoring against Barcelona and has impressed Pep Guardiola so much there's a red carpet rolled out towards a first-team squad place next season.

With the majority of City's attackers away on holiday after their international commitments, Guardiola has had to call upon a number of academy players to field a squad in the United States. He has seen youngsters step up over the last two summers, and it looks like this season is the year that O'Reilly makes his mark.

Against Celtic in North Carolina, he glided into the area and hit the side netting, before it was his ball across the box that ended up at the feet of Oscar Bobb to score. He was moved back from No.10 to No.8 against AC Milan, holding his own, and he was trusted in a double pivot in Orlando vs Barcelona.

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But he wasn't content with protecting the defence alongside Mateo Kovacic. When City had a period of pressure, he timed a run into the box perfectly, collected Josko Gvardiol's smart pass and finished back across goal to register his first strike for the club.

"I’m just living the dream really," he tells reporters at the Camping World Stadium, after a third start of the tour. "I wasn’t expecting to play any, to be honest, obviously the manager has trusted me and I’m just trying to do my best."

O'Reilly was speaking minutes after Guardiola had held the door wide open for him to join the first team set-up, ushering him through. "He's a guy who will be a player," the boss said in his press conference. "His maturity,