'Mini Rodri': Guardiola says Gonzalez brings stability to Man City

Pep Guardiola believes Nico Gonzalez can step into the void left by Rodri after making an impressive Premier League debut in Manchester City's 4-0 thrashing of Newcastle on Saturday.

City have struggled badly without Ballon d'Or winner Rodri, who suffered a serious knee injury in September.

Guardiola's men have won the Premier League for the past four seasons but currently sit fourth in the table, 13 points adrift of leaders Liverpool.

Gonzalez arrived on the final day of the mid-season transfer window from Porto for a £50 million fee ($62 million) and took little time to find his feet in arguably City's best performance of the season to date against the Magpies.

"I think the presence from Nico helped us a lot," said Guardiola. "The feeling is that the club signed an incredible player for the future in terms of mentality.

"He was in the Barcelona academy and Barcelona's academy is the best in the world in how they teach you the concepts, the body shapes, how to pass the ball, the technique.

"I think in Porto, (coach) Sergio Conceicao helped us a lot to bring into his football the part of being aggressive and smart and (playing) different types of games. He is so young, 23, like a mini Rodri.

"How he talks, the personality. There was a moment he was correcting Erling (Haaland), to do this, do that. When that happens, it's nice because you think, 'okay, in the next six or seven years we'll have Rodri, we'll have him.' That will give us more presence and more stability which this season, of course, we missed."