Guardiola Once Named a Manchester United Player He Wanted to Bring to Manchester City Immediately

Guardiola once publicly praised a Manchester United star, saying he was the best player in the Manchester United squad at Old Trafford at the time, and admitted that if given the opportunity, he would have wanted to sign him the very next day.

According to Ryan Giggs' recollection, during a dinner, Guardiola told him that Marcus Rashford was the best player in the Manchester United squad and that he wished he could bring him to his team the following day.

Rashford came through Manchester United's academy and scored on his first-team debut in 2016. However, his United career has been inconsistent: he has scored 30 goals in a single season when in top form, but he has also gone through periods of poor form, while his off-field comments and actions have drawn criticism.

He has had loan spells with Aston Villa and Barcelona before returning to Manchester United. He has often impressed against Manchester City: before Guardiola took charge of City, Rashford scored a winning goal at the Etihad Stadium; in 2024, he also scored a spectacular long-range effort. So far in his career, Rashford has scored against Manchester City seven times, making City the opponent he has scored against the second most.

Giggs recreated the dinner conversation on a video program. The meeting took place around eight or nine years ago, when Ferguson arranged for Giggs to sit next to Guardiola.

Giggs recalled: “There were around eight of us in total, and Sir Alex Ferguson arranged for me to sit next to Guardiola. I asked him: ‘Which player in the Manchester United squad do you admire?’ I first said: Is it De Gea? He said no. I then guessed Luke Shaw, and he still shook his head. He said: ‘The best player in the Manchester United squad is Rashford. I would want to sign him tomorrow.’ At the time, I was thinking about what Guardiola had seen in this young player, and he was talking about using Rashford as a center-forward.”

This summer, Guardiola ended his decade-long managerial spell at Manchester City. He achieved great success at City, with recruitment being a key factor, although most of the major signings came from overseas leagues.

Major direct transfers between the two Manchester clubs are extremely rare, with the last large-scale deal dating back to the controversial Carlos Tevez transfer in 2009. However, transfer battles between the two clubs occur from time to time. This summer, both clubs pursued Elliot Anderson; the England midfielder clearly wanted to join Manchester City and eventually moved from Nottingham Forest to the Blues for £116 million. Giggs revealed that he had tried to persuade Anderson to change his mind, but was rejected.