Pep Guardiola hopes to keep Brahim Diaz at Manchester City

Pep Guardiola hopes Brahim Diaz follows in the footsteps of Phil Foden by staying at Manchester City, and not Jadon Sancho, who left for Borussia Dortmund.

The Spain U21 international midfielder showcased his talent on Thursday with two goals in City's 2-0 victory over Fulham in the Carabao Cup.

Diaz - who was signed from Malaga as a 14-year-old - is out of contract this summer and has been linked with a move to Real Madrid but Guardiola is keen for him to remain with City.

"We want him, yeah," Guardiola confirmed. "If there is an offer on the table, I don't know because I am not involved in that.

"When I spoke with the sporting director Txiki [Begiristain], we talked about the player and what is our idea. We share our ideas. Sometimes we agree, sometimes not.

"After that is disappear and they make the process so really I don't know.

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"But the fact is we want him, like happened with Tosin [Adarabioyo] in the past, Lukas Nmecha or Phil Foden.

"With all the young players we believe in our perspective, we believe in our perspective.

"We want them to stay for longer because of course when they are 17, 18 or 19 years old, they are not already a football player."

If Diaz does leave, he would follow in the footsteps of Jadon Sancho, who left City for Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2017, despite Guardiola wanting him to stay.

The move to the Bundesliga has worked out well so far for Sancho, who has quickly established himself as a regular for Dortmund and broken into Gareth Southgate's England squad.

Guardiola admits it can be difficult to persuade talented younger players to stay and be patient when their opportunities for playing time in City's star-studded squad may be limited.

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The City boss said: "In the case of Jadon Sancho, we wanted him but he did not want to stay. What can we do? Nothing. So good luck and all the best. It is a market. It is what it is.

"Sometimes with Manchester City we go to other clubs and we buy players. It is what it is.

"We try to care of them. We try to give them the best education possible and the best facilities and a good environment and we try to do everything.

"But in the end, both sides have to want it. Sometimes the club does want to continue with a player because they are not good enough to go through.

"We are clear with all the guys and after that the agents, the fathers, the mothers also influence that. But we don't have regrets as a club.

"Of course there are other teams in Europe who want big talents. We can accept that."

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