Mateo Kovacic praises new boss Pep Guardiola

Mateo Kovacic speaks during a pre-game press conference at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Mapo District, western Seoul on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s preseason match against Atletico Madrid. [NEWS1]

Newly-minted Manchester City midfielder Mateo Kovacic is looking forward to learning the Pep Guardiola school of football that former City captain Ilkay Gundogan rated so highly.

Kovacic joined City this summer after five years at Chelsea. He will likely fill in the gap left by Gundogan, who moved to FC Barcelona in June.

Having left the team after winning multiple trophies during his seven-year spell, Gundogan said through ESPN on Monday that he did not know anything about football before joining Guardiola’s squad and the manager’s influence on the team and himself was immense.

Kovacic also agreed with Gundogan’s praise, despite having spent a short time with the manager.

“I am only here for two weeks, so I can see that he [Guardiola] has clear ideas,” Kovacic said during a pre-game press conference at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s preseason match against Atletico Madrid. “He is on another level. I came here as well to learn. I think he is the best coach in the world.”

Kovacic is an agile midfielder with fancy footwork and long runs in his arsenal, and looks to continue to prove himself at City.

“I need to do my own role to just be part of the team and do what the manager asks me,” he said. “I knew the team had a lot of quality, playing against them [City] was never easy. Everybody is just professional. You can see why they are successful in recent years.

“The whole club is just amazing.”

Kovacic arrived in Korea Thursday with City to participate in the Coupang Play Series — an annual exhibition series launched last year — where the team will play Atletico on Sunday.

He will also likely be in action on Sunday alongside the likes of Erling Haaland.

The match will kick off at 8 p.m.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]