Guehi says Guardiola left his head 'spinning' and completely changed his game at City

Marc Guehi says his head is still “spinning” from his time working under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, crediting the outgoing manager with fundamentally changing the way he plays.

Guehi joined City in a £30 million January move, making him Guardiola’s final signing at the club before the Spaniard’s departure at the end of the season after a decade that yielded 20 trophies, including this season’s FA Cup and Carabao Cup double. Despite the short overlap, the England centre-back says the experience has been transformative.

“It wasn’t just the first week — my head’s still spinning,” Guehi said. “Honestly, I could go into a lot of detail, but you only realise when you look back on games how well thought out and how well planned the process towards those games was. Even then you are learning but I’ve been thrown into the deep end and I’ve had to adapt.”

Guehi was candid about the extent of the change Guardiola demanded of him. “My game has changed — I don’t know if it’s obvious to everyone watching, but it’s obvious to me how much my game has completely changed. Things I used to do I’ve stopped doing because of the way that he wants us to play, but also how effective that is. I think I’ve improved. I hope so.”

He acknowledged it may take years to fully measure Guardiola’s influence. “I’ll only find out the longer I go in my career and I’ll only find out if I’ve truly improved when I look back, because it’s such a short space of time to know.”

Guehi’s route to the Etihad was anything but straightforward. A Chelsea academy product, he spent time on loan at Swansea before joining Crystal Palace, where he became a fan favourite and captained the club to the FA Cup. A deadline-day move to Liverpool collapsed last summer, yet he remained professional throughout — a quality that has defined his reputation in the game.

Asked whether he takes pride in how he is perceived, Guehi pointed to his faith as the driving force behind his conduct. “I give credit to my faith. My faith is a big part of how I try to conduct myself, how I try to approach each and every day — my faith in Jesus Christ,” he said.