Manchester City will continue to grow more under Pep Guardiola. That is the view of Barcelona star Lionel Messi, who is confident his former boss will deliver silverware in England.
It has been a topsy-turvy start to life for Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium as he attempts to transform City into a winning team, going six matches without victory up until Saturday.
City crushed West Brom 4-0 in the Premier League to end Guardiola's worst run of his managerial career.
While some question whether Guardiola's methods, which served him so well at Barca and Bayern Munich, can hold up in the demanding Premier League, Messi has no doubts.
"City are a great team," Messi told The Sun.
"They have always been a great team each year we have faced them but now, by having Pep, they will grow more through his work."
But while Messi backed Guardiola, the midfield maestro warned City that Barca are heading to Manchester full of confidence and determined to inflict more pain.
Barca put City to the sword in a 4-0 Champions League rout on matchday three and the two teams will do it all again, this time at the Etihad on Tuesday.
"Missing Andres [Iniesta] is something you always notice as far as I can tell — for how he is as a player and what he creates on the field of play," Messi said.
"But we are in good shape and we are coming very confident."
