Discussing why Phil Foden has appeared out of favour in recent weeks – he has started just one of the last six City fixtures – Guardiola offered the surprising assessment of the wins against Liverpool and Leeds, plus the draw against Everton.

Much has been made of Grealish’s contribution to City’s play, and Guardiola defended his £100m forward after missing three golden chances at Leeds before registering his first two assists of the campaign.

Now, Guardiola has used Grealish as an example to explain why Foden’s minutes have been limited in recent games, as well as offering a warning to his whole squad regarding their body language.

I see something on the pitch, in the training sessions, and I use my intuition to use Jack in these games because he gives us extra passes,” Guardiola explained.

The way we played against Leeds, knowing their defense was completely different, was really good.

And in discussing his selection choices, Guardiola offered an intriguing warning to his players over their body language in training and if they are not playing.

“You cannot play good when the body language is not correct.

The body language depends on them and sometimes they are not good and it is more difficult.”