New Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola believes the renewal of his rivalry with Jose Mourinho in the north west of England can help him reach even greater levels as a manager.
Guardiola, who won six leagues titles, a pair of Champions Leagues and four domestic cups during his time with Barcelona and Bayern Munich, met the press for the first time on Friday just three days after arch-nemesis Mourinho was unveiled across the city at Manchester United.
The two had previously locked horns in fiery El Clasico encounters in Spain, when Guardiola was in charge of Barcelona and Mourinho held the reins at Real Madrid, and the former thinks trying to outmanoeuvre the best coaches in the world has brought the best out of him.
"I think Jose said it pretty well that it is not about him or me," Guardiola said.
"What I saw from the distance is it is so tough to win the games here. We played many times against each other. I can say, they help me, the big coaches, and Jose is one of them, they help me to reach another level.
"My experience against him, against (Liverpool boss) Jurgen Klopp at Dortmund, a lot of coaches in Germany and Spain they made me better. All the managers in the world want to win and we are going to try and win as well."
Guardiola, 45, has cast his eye over the City squad after they returned to training this week, though England pair Raheem Sterling and Joe Hart were not present despite their early Euro 2016 exit.
The former has copped plenty of flak following events in France, yet his new boss is relishing working with a player that cost City almost £50million last summer.
"I hear the last 10 days what happened, especially with Sterling," Guardiola added.
"Of course he has a little problem that the money they paid is always in the mind of the people but I am curious, I am looking forward to working with him to try to help him, to show him how good a player he is and not just him, Joe Hart and the other English players.
"In Barcelona the basis was Catalan, Spanish players, in Bayern Munich the basis was (German players) and I would like to work with English players here but they are so expensive, more than the other players around the world."
Source: PA
