Barcelona signed Jules Kounde during the summer transfer window, and the 23-year-old has proven to be a top player and is a key part of Xavi Hernandez team.

However, Kounde could easily have been a Manchester City player, and has revealed how Pep Guardiola called him up in his first year as a Sevilla player.

Asked by El Pais if the rumours of Pep Guardiola once attempting to sign him for Manchester City were true, Kounde said: “Yes, in my first year at Sevilla. He called me. He told me that he loved me and that he thought I would fit the way he played.”

Man City opted to sign Ruben Dias instead.

Kounde would go on to sign for Barcelona two years after, but he revealed he could easily have joined any of the two sides, as both Guardiola and Xavi showed how much they had seen him play.

“At a certain point, yes. I talked a lot about football with both of them. And that’s what I like,” he recalled.

“The first thing, in the conversations I had with them, I realised that they had both seen me play. They knew my capabilities perfectly. They didn’t talk just to talk. They were very precise conversations.”