Manchester City youngster Angelino has set his sights on a place in Pep Guardiola’s first team after so far impressing on the club’s pre-season tour.
The 19-year-old put in a promising performance against Bayern Munich last week and helped set up City’s only goal against Borussia Dortmund within moments of entering the fray in Shenzhen on Thursday.
The Spaniard spent half of the 2015 MLS campaign on loan at New York City, but found opportunities harder to come by after returning to City in January for what would be Manuel Pellegrini’s final few months in charge at the Etihad Stadium.
But he says his decisions have been vindicated and he is now hopeful of breaking into Guardiola’s plans for the forthcoming campaign.
“I think the best thing for me was to wait and I think this year could be my year,” he told Goal . “I think [the tour] has been going really well. I’m really pleased with my performance in the last few games.
“I will always be thankful to Pep and his staff for giving me this chance, I’m just really enjoying the chances I get and hopefully I get some more.”
On his time with NYCFC, he added: “It was a good decision. I think it really helped me improve my game by playing on the biggest stage and I think it helped me a lot to come back to City.
“I didn’t just go just to get experience, I think I gave it all over there too.
“But obviously the main focus for me was coming back to City and breaking into the first team.”
The youngster was sent on in a wide midfield role against Dortmund and carved open the German defence to help Sergio Aguero open the scoring.
But he says he would rather feature in the back four next season, although he is willing to play anywhere if it furthers his chances of playing for Guardiola.
“Hopefully I'd play in my position as a left-back,” he added. “But wherever he says I need to play I will play happily, as long as he wants me to stay with him I’ll play wherever he says.”
Indeed, Angelino spoke in glowing terms of his new manager and his training methods, which have put the City players through their paces over the last month.
“It’s been hard, but really enjoyable,” he continued. "It’s been really good, really good.
“I’ve been enjoying every day with Pep and the staff and I’m learning every day. They encourage a lot so I’m just working hard.
“I’m really looking forward to [the new season], hopefully I’ll get the chance to break into the first team. I’m still thankful to the staff and my team-mates who have helped get me to here.”
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