Spain and Barcelona legend David Villa has backed Manchester City to retain the Premier League title.
Villa, 36, played under City boss Pep Guardiola during his time with Barcelona, winning both the La Liga and Champions League titles in 2010/11, and the Copa Del Rey the following year.
Now with City’s sister club, New York City FC, Villa has backed his former boss to retain the Premier League title next term – a feat which hasn’t been achieved since Manchester United won three consecutive titles under Sir Alex Ferguson between 2007 and 2009.
“I believe that he can do it again because he is a good coach, he has a good team, and he has the support of Manchester City and the City group,” Villa, who worked with Guardiola at Barcelona, told Goal.com.
“They are one of the best teams in the world and I don’t have any doubt that he can take any trophy again this year and why not the best trophy that the club is fighting for from a long time ago, the Champions League.”
It was a fun day today seeing some old friends at the training grounds! @NYCFC @ManCity #CityFamily pic.twitter.com/MHXbl0CFMV
— David Villa (@Guaje7Villa) July 24, 2018
Having won titles in Spain, Germany and now England, Guardiola has been one of world football’s most successful coaches of recent times, however Villa believes his successes span much wider than simply winning titles – going as far to say he believes he completely changed the landscape of the modern game.
“Pep is one of the great coaches of all time in this sport and not only for his success,” Villa said, “When you talk about coaches in history, you try to look at their success in winning trophies but Pep is more than that.
“He changed the way of soccer in Spain, in Germany and now he’s changing it in Manchester. He’s one of the greats – not only in terms of his success but also the things he’s done in every country he’s worked in.”