Brahim Diaz: Manchester City will do ‘absolutely everything’ to keep Brahim Diaz, says Pep Guardiola
Manchester City will do “absolutely everything” to keep midfielder Brahim Diaz at the club – but if he wants to go he must leave, says Pep Guardiola.
The 19-year-old Spaniard’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season and he has been linked to Real Madrid.
It means City face the prospect of losing another of their promising youngsters – as they did Jadon Sancho, who joined Borussia Dortmund last year.
“My advice is if he doesn’t want to stay, he has to leave,” said Guardiola.
“I think the academy has to be so proud that he’s been working here many years.
“The case of Brahim is very simple: we want him to stay, we want to extend his contract for four or five years and we’ll do absolutely everything to keep him here but, as I said before, it’s in his hands.”
Spain under-21 international Diaz has made five Premier League appearances for City, but is yet to feature in the English top-flight this season.
He came off the bench for the Premier League champions in the Community Shield and has scored twice in two appearances in the EFL Cup.
City manager Guardiola says Diaz’s situation is similar to that of Sancho’s and of the highly-rated 18-year-old Phil Foden, whose deal runs until 2020.
“We protect him, before we arrive in this period – it was the same with Jadon and Phil. But he has to decide and it’s no more than that,” added the Spaniard.
“It’s what it is, the market is the market. They cannot say we didn’t do absolutely everything to take care of them, him and his families – like a human being, like a person, like a football player.
“It’s incredible how the academy works with these guys – taking care of them, teaching them what they need to be a high standard for a long time, but at the end they decide.
“We cannot push more than we pushed with Brahim, for example, or with the other ones. They arrive as young kids, but the market is the market. City go around England to take players, they work at other clubs and want to stay there.
“Ex-Barcelona boss Guardiola insists City have done all they can to provide the youngsters in their academy a platform, but says the only teenager likely to start for one of Europe’s “big clubs” is Paris St-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe.
“At Barcelona, there were many, many players – for example Cesc Fabregas wanted to leave and go to Arsenal, it happens always this situation,” he added.
“All we can do is speak with the families, find out what they want to do with these guys.
“We tell them the truth, how complicated it is in some periods, not how many young players are playing at 18 or 19 in the big clubs in Europe and the world and playing every week? Maybe one – Mbappe, but not the other ones.
“(David) Silva, for example, came away and was young, he went from Valencia to Eibar in the second division. We try to speak to them about what is the intention but in the end they sleep on their own and they decide with their families.
“What can we do? More than we have done? No way. The club did perfectly in all cases but the desire is the desire. Maybe they visualise they are going to play and believe in other places they are going to play. Maybe, maybe not. We will see.” BBC Sport.
