Pep Guardiola tips young Man City duo to nail down first-team spots after Community Shield displays

Pep Guardiola believes Oscar Bobb and James McAtee are good enough to compete with Manchester City’s world-class attacking players this season.

Bobb was part of Guardiola’s squad last season, while McAtee spent the campaign on loan with eventually-relegated Sheffield United.

McAtee scored five goals in 32 appearances for the Blades. Bobb, meanwhile, scored twice in 26 outings in all competitions for the Premier League champions.

Guardiola insisted both 21-year-old wingers have what it takes to earn regular game time this term after they starred in Man City’s Community Shield victory over Manchester United at Wembley on Saturday, where a 1-1 draw was followed by a marathon penalty shootout which the Club World Cup holders won 7-6.

“They have the standards to be [with us]”, Guardiola said. “I know it. Especially McAtee. I have known him from a long time ago. They have the confidence. Oscar made a fantastic game like all of pre-season. Today was the McAtee that we want to see.

“We want more [from Bobb]. But he has something unique and he also has an incredible work-ethic. But he’s still young and still he has to do it more regularly.

“[McAtee] is a player that comes from the academy, knows all the things, and his period in Sheffield [United] helped him a lot. I don’t want to loan him and I don’t want to sell him, because I need him in particular situations.”

Guardiola was asked whether victory in the Community Shield — a first trophy of the season — signals his team’s hunger ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.

“I would like to answer yes, but I don’t know”, he said. “I saw many things today that I liked. The first 35 minutes were beyond excellent. Manu [Akanji] and Ruben [Dias] have played just three training sessions [and] the English [international] players are still on their holidays.

“We are far from our best; that’s normal. But we already have one trophy. It’s nice. We played really well; in general we controlled them.”