Pep Guardiola knows Man City's most important signing of summer after surprise exit

When Manchester City were 2-0 down against Aston Villa on the final day of the season at the Etihad, an exasperated Pep Guardiola turned to his bench, went to sit down and turned to the man who'd been there all season.

By taking a moment to assess the situation with long-time friend and assistant manager Juanma Lillo, it was probably the comforting, level-headed reset Guardiola needed, with City going on to complete a remarkable comeback and seal the title in dramatic circumstances when all looked lost.

Guardiola has praised Lillo's ability to calm him down in the past, and it's fair to say Lillo's impact in his two years at City was as important as any player in their back-to-back Premier League titles. But now Lillo is departing City for the first team manager's role at Al-Sadd Sports Club in Qatar, leaving Guardiola with perhaps his most important signing of the summer to make. His next assistant.

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“Without him being where we are in the table would have been impossible,” Guardiola said of Lillo in January 2021. “He sees things that I am not able to see.

"He has a special sense. Especially in the bad moments. He makes me feel calm and makes me see the real situation of the team apart from the result.

“He always has the vision to see what I cannot see. His help in this period, with Rodolfo [Borrell], has been so important in this period. I have Rodolfo who has been with us a long time, who helps me a lot, all the time but especially this season because Juanma doesn’t speak English so well yet.

“In some defensive issues he helped us in the beginning. He talks especially with the Latin players. He is important to me.”

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