Pep Guardiola has admitted that he is "curious" to see how he gets on working with Raheem Sterling and is confident he can help him play to a high level.
The 21-year-old received a great deal of criticism in the wake of England's last-16 elimination from Euro 2016 at the hands of Iceland, with City team-mate Joe Hart another to carry a lot of the blame.
Guardiola feels Sterling faces extra pressure because of the £49 million fee the Premier League side paid to sign him from Liverpool, but the Spaniard is confident he can help him improve as a player.
"They were criticised because they lost and when they lose, it doesn’t depend on Sterling," he said at his first press conference as City's new coach.
"I heard over the last week or 10 days what happened with Sterling. Of course, he has a problem that the money they paid for him is always in the mind of the people.
"But I’m curious. I’m looking forward to working with him to try to help him show again how good a player he is.
"Not just with Sterling, but with Joe Hart and the other English players.
"In Barcelona, the basis of the team was Catalan and Spanish players, in Bayern Munich it was Germany and I would like to work with an English basis here.
"But they’re so expensive, more than the players around the world. It’s not easy, but, it’s not just about Joe or Raheem, I will, of course, try to help them."
- Goal