Aleix Garcia Can Be Flag-Bearer for Youth for Pep Guardiola's Manchester City

There were a multitude of reasons why Manchester City wanted Pep Guardiola as their new manager.

They had to work hard to get him—he’s the most coveted coach in the game—but their persistence paid off. They wanted his tactical acumen, his obsessive desire to win and his intensity in everything he does. They feel he gives the club the best possible chance of success, and on the evidence of what we’ve seen so far, with nine wins from nine games, it’s looking as though their faith was well-placed.

But they also wanted his ability to develop young players—to trust them and give them first-team opportunities. He did it with huge success at Barcelona, developing one of the finest teams in the history of the game with a core of young Catalan players at the heart of their success.

It’s a blueprint Txiki Begiristain, the club’s sporting director—who was part of the Barcelona setup when Guardiola was in charge—wants to replicate in Manchester.

City, with their state-of-the-art academy facility, are serious about youth development. But without a coach who believes in young players, it doesn’t matter how many Desso GrassMaster pitches or world-class gyms you have—you would never get youth prospects into the first team. Guardiola is seen as the answer to that problem.

In his first press conference as manager, he praised the City academy and the quality of the young players it has produced. “In a short time, we are working with nine or 10 players in the second team, and...I'm really impressed with their quality,” he said.

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“I love to work with the young players. In Barcelona, I was lucky. I started in the second team, and when I was promoted to the first team, I knew all the players from the second and third teams. That helped me a lot.

“I knew when I spoke with Txiki [that City] have been working in the last few years very, very well. Chelsea and Manchester City are the best academies in that way and the way they play. They are both fighting to win titles in the academies.”

On Wednesday evening, in City’s EFL Cup third-round tie with Swansea City, Guardiola made nine changes to the side that beat Bournemouth on Saturday, putting together a team made up of youngsters and fringe players.

Aleix Garcia and Angelino came into his side for their first starts of the season, and Tosin Adarabioyo and Brahim Diaz were used from the bench. Could City finally be about to supplement their star-studded first-team squad with a batch of homegrown young players?

On the evidence of what we saw at the Liberty Stadium, Garcia has a real chance. He delivered an assured and, at times, brilliant display. He sat deep in midfield orchestrating City’s play with his superb range of passing, and he managed to get forward and score the goal that put City 2-0 up and cruising toward a last-16 tie with Manchester United at Old Trafford.

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He’s a player of limited senior experience, yet few could argue he produced the best performance on the pitch.

"

City will be away against @ManUtd in the fourth round of the @EFLCup. #mcfc

— Manchester City (@ManCity) September 21, 2016"

It’s perhaps his intelligence and understanding of the game that impressed the most. He was always on the move, continually finding pockets of space to receive the ball and pick passes. The young Catalan is grounded in City’s footballing principles, and he looks an ideal option for Guardiola.

He did the simple things well, keeping City in possession with neat, short passes—but he also has much more expansive abilities in his locker, hitting a number of 60-yard passes that stretched the Swansea side and created openings. This was a mature, measured performance that will have given Guardiola plenty to think about going into a run of unrelenting fixtures.

Alongside the defensive-minded Fernando, who was outstanding, City dominated the midfield battle.

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"[Garcia] played [well], and I want to congratulate the young players tonight," Guardiola said afterward. "They played [well]. Fernando made an amazing effort, because he had been injured for the last two weeks. He played a fantastic game."

"

.@97_aleix is your Man of the Match!

Great game, great goal... Well deserved! #swansvcity #mcfc pic.twitter.com/8InMvqia0o

— Manchester City (@ManCity) September 21, 2016"

Diaz, 17, came on for the final 10 minutes of the match, and although it wasn’t long enough for him to get into the game, it’s a positive sight for the City fans to see the Spaniard involved. He is the most talented player in City’s academy and has been impressing for the club’s youth setup for some time. A No. 10 with a remarkable ability to beat players, he is surely going to become a City regular.

"

Brahim Diaz made his debut for City tonight. He wasn't even born when City played Gillingham in the 2nd Division play off final in 1999.

— MCFC History (@mcfc_history) September 21, 2016"

The big story of the night, though, was the return of Vincent Kompany, who made his first start of the season for City and looked superb throughout until an injury late on saw him leave the field, visibly angry at his rotten luck.

Having looked sharp for so long at the Liberty, producing a number of passes from the back that split the Welsh side open, it was sad to see his night end early again. Guardiola doesn’t yet know the extent of the problem, but it was hardly encouraging to see a player whose last two seasons have been ravaged by muscle problems leave the pitch with two minutes of added time remaining.

"The doctors are speaking with him, but hopefully it is not a big, big problem," the City boss said. "We're going to wait for the result."

"

That was some draw!

The @EFLCup Round Four fixtures… pic.twitter.com/8LfBggEzjj

— EFL (@EFL) September 21, 2016"

Guardiola continued: "I said, 'What happened?' They said Vincent had gone to the locker room. Hopefully it will not be a big problem. We will have to wait. If he's injured, he's injured. He cannot stay on the pitch. It's not easy after a long, long time without playing. Defensively, he was so strong—he played really [well]."

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Clichy says Kompany has told him he's OK. Said it is probably just tiredness after being out for so long #Mcfc

— Simon Bajkowski (@spbajko) September 21, 2016"

It’s been an immaculate start to Guardiola’s reign. Nine wins from nine matches is more than most expected, and for the majority of those games, his side have played with real quality. This win was perhaps the most disjointed, but that’s to be expected given the number of changes made to the starting lineup.

The Catalan has set City up perfectly for the season. While his rivals are floundering, trying to establish their best team and introduce new ideas, Guardiola has done so quickly and efficiently.

And if his revolution includes some of the club’s finest prospects, then he will have delivered on his brief emphatically.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and follows the club from a Manchester base. All quotes and information were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Follow him on Twitter @RobPollard_.