'Guardiola is a wizard and De Bruyne is the reason fans pay £500 for a season ticket'

Nolite, now with Sevilla, spent a season with the 'Citizens' under Guardiola and it is fair to say the manager left a lasting impression on him.

'He's a wizard' he says. 'He would say in training: "this is how it is. And if you do that, that, and that, then this is what's going to happen on the pitch". And a lot of the time that is exactly how it worked out during a game.

''You do things with him on the training ground that you have never done before and he tells you how to apply it on the pitch and then later you think "bloody hell! He was right about that!" He's different.

'The leader is Pep Guardiola. He is in charge. And that's enough leadership.'

Guardiola's first season in English football might have been a disappointing one but he is showing his worth this time around and Nolito believed that has a lot to do with the bedding-in period that English football requires.

'It takes time but bit-by-bit they are changing and doing what the Mister wants,' he explaines. 'And you have to do what he wants. You have to do it his way; he is stubborn, very headstrong. But City are flying now and I hope they continue in that way.

'It is not easy arriving in the English league where the referees let play continue far more. It's more physical. And you dominate but give away one corner and the opposition score from it.

'I think he has gradually tailored the team to the English style. I'm not in his head but I think he has realized that you have to have to be stronger and quicker and you see that in signings like [Kyle] Walker and [Benjamin] Mendy.'

Nolito's brief spell in England wasn't without controversy, with him infamously telling a Spanish radio presentor that his children had gone pale due to the lack of sunshine.

'It was just a joke, a throwaway line!' he says. 'And anyway it was true that it wasn't sunny! I did have to buy vitamin D for my two small girls, poor things. The paediatrician advised it.

'Perhaps if there is an Englishman who doesn't have a sense of humour then he was offended but no City fan will have heard me talking down Manchester.

'It has its positives but it's sunnier in Spain. Why do lots of English come to Marbella? To Gibraltar? Or to my hometown in Sanlucar? They drink wine and eat Spanish ham. They are there with their socks.'

Nolito's former Team-mate Kevin De Bruyne has come in for praise after a series of fine performances of late and Nolito believes that every bit of credit he is given is deserved.

'He is a magician and he is so underrated,' he enthuses. 'He doesn't get the praise he deserves. There are players that get raved about far more in England.

'He is the best player in the Premier League and one of the best in the world. He doesn't score the most goals but what he does every week no other player in the Premier League does.

'There are other players who are powerful and quick and strong but they can't move with the ball as if it's tied to their boot. They don't have that calm, that pass. He is why a supporter pays 500 for his season ticket.'

Nolito's spell in england may have been a disappointment but he's grateful to have had the opportunity to try something new.

'I arrived there full of hope, coming to the best place in the world to play football, to England,' he says. 'But these things happen. I will always be grateful to him (Guardiola), he gave me the opportunity to play in the Premier League, at a great club like Manchester City. I never had a problem with the Mister.'

As for a potential reunion in the Champions League final? 'Hombre! I hope so! Where do I sign? I'll sign for that right away,' he concluded.