Why Guardiola's new number two could be Man City's biggest summer signing

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Manchester City has invested over £150 million this summer to bring in five new players, yet the most significant addition for Pep Guardiola did not cost any money and won't be playing on the pitch either.

In early June, Pep Lijnders, who played a crucial role as a coach during Jurgen Klopp's tenure at Liverpool, joined Guardiola as his assistant at Manchester City.

This event should have garnered more attention, especially considering Lijnders' reputation for managing much of the daily training under Klopp and shaping the tactical developments following Borussia Dortmund. His arrival hints at Guardiola's intention to implement a considerable tactical shift.

Even more notable is the fact that these tactical adjustments will be influenced by a coach who collaborated with Klopp on strategies like counter-pressing and vertical attacking movements—approaches that counteracted Guardiola's well-known positional style.

However, the difference between their tactics is sometimes exaggerated. Both Guardiola and Klopp have drawn inspiration from each other, and their successful periods at Liverpool and Manchester City often blend the dynamism of Klopp's style with the control found in Guardiola's approach.

On one hand, Klopp's 'heavy metal' football was tempered by a focus on territorial supremacy; on the other hand, Guardiola adapted some of Klopp's principles to cope with the Premier League's physicality.

Despite this, Lijnders, similar to Klopp, prioritizes aggressive, high-energy attacking strategies and the openings that arise during transitions.

As viewed from the outside, Lijnders' hiring seems to indicate that Guardiola believes modern Premier League tactics are veering back towards the style once favored by Klopp, which is indeed accurate.

In the past, Guardiola's method of exerting territorial control could stifle lesser opponents. However, as the mid-tier teams improved, those willing to apply intense pressing and disrupt buildup plays began to reap benefits.

Teams started to push back, and as pressing became more widespread, even Guardiola faced challenges in maintaining control through slow passing and rigid structures.

“Modern football today is demonstrated by how Bournemouth, Newcastle, Brighton, and Liverpool play,” Pep Guardiola remarked to TNT Sports a few months back. “Modern football isn’t about positioning. You must adapt to the rhythm of the game.”

This is a significant assertion from a man whose tactical approach to 'positional play' has largely defined the sport over the past 15 years, and it resonates accurately.

In the last five years, there has been an increase in fast breaks and direct offensive plays, while the metric PPDA—indicating the intensity and frequency of pressing—has been declining.

When he made those observations about the state of modern football, Guardiola had already started to test a more direct style of play.

Comparing the 2023-24 season to the 2024-25 season, Manchester City's share of possession fell from 65.5% to 61.3%, whereas their total fast breaks rose from 22 to 30, marking an impressive 36% increase.

We witnessed a notable increase in long balls from Ederson designed to evade the opponent's high press, along with more direct dribbling through the midfield lines from January recruit Omar Marmoush.

It appears that Marmoush stands out as one of the initial additions for Man City 2.0: a reformation aimed at guiding Guardiola, Lijnders, and the team towards a style reminiscent of Klopp's approach. Subsequently, additional players with a similar profile have joined.

Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders have been signed from Lyon and AC Milan respectively, and like Marmoush, these acquisitions emphasize greater ball progression and reduced reliance on precisely executed passing triangles.

In simpler terms, Cherki, Reijnders, and Marmoush embody a style that thrives on momentum.

The statistics illustrate a clear trend. In comparison to Man City's three primary central midfielders for the 2024-25 season, Cherki, Reijnders, and Marmoush achieved significantly higher scores in ‘progressive carries’ (defined as moving the ball at least five metres towards the opponent's goal) and ‘attempted dribbles.’

The addition of Rayan Ait-Nouri also suggests a shift towards a Klopp-like or Lijnders-like style of play. After primarily utilizing central midfielders or center-backs in the full-back roles over the last two seasons—an evident strategy for control and discipline—Guardiola has decisively shifted gears.

Ait-Nouri emerges as one of Europe's most attacking full-backs. Similar to the other three signings made in 2025, he ranked second among defenders in the Premier League for completed dribbles (63) and sixth among full-backs for progressive carries (89).

Even more remarkable is his position among the top three defenders for goal involvements (11), expected assists (5.5), and touches in the opposition's box (96).

The arrival of Ait-Nouri signals that Guardiola is moving away from overloading the midfield and is embracing a more urgent, vertical style of attacking football.

As a result, Manchester City fans may shift from concerns about the team’s previously slow and passive gameplay to pondering how an exciting attacking combination like Ait-Nouri and Jeremy Doku will operate on the left side, or how Marmoush and Cherki will integrate within the same attacking midfield area.

There will undoubtedly be more questions than answers before the start of the 2025-26 Premier League season, as many of their new signings—both on the field and in the coaching staff—do not conform to the traditional Pep model.

Clearly, Guardiola is embarking on a fresh strategy. With Lijnders alongside him, this could represent his most significant tactical evolution to date.