Playing in a defence under Pep Guardiola is not easy. Even the Manchester City manager has admitted that he asks a lot of his defenders.

His teams defend high up the pitch, often as far as 20 yards into the opponents’ half, exposing a huge space between them and the goalkeeper for attackers to run into.

And it is not all about defending. Players are also expected to be comfortable and creative on the ball; prominent in starting and maintaining attacks.

It can be difficult for experienced players to acclimatise to the game plan, never mind rookies still learning the art of defending at the highest level. where the slightest mistake can be punished.

That is why Eric Garcia’s progress towards becoming a regular in Guardiola’s first-team is so impressive.

Clever, composed and adept at anticipating danger, the Spaniard has all the traits that the City boss looks for in a centre-back. And the 19-year-old has an even bigger advantage in that he has been schooled in the Guardiola style from a young age and has an instinctive understanding in how to play in the system.

When Garcia first fell in love with football, Guardiola was in charge of the extraordinary Barcelona side that won two Champions Leagues, three La Liga titles and two Copa Del Rey trophies.

The centre-back’s knowledge was further enhanced by his time in Barca’s famed La Masia youth academy before his switch to City, where he quickly moved up to the first team to learn from the man himself.

“The players I most remember watching growing up are (Carlos) Puyol, (Gerard) Pique and (Javier) Mascherano when Pep was there,” Garcia tells Goal after he was named on this year’s NxGn list for the best teenage footballers on the planet.

“I was playing for Barca and when I was only 10 or 12, they were the three defenders I learned most from watching.”

With his talent spotted at a young age, Garcia was tipped as a potential successor to Pique, with the 33-year-old ex-Manchester United centre-back now in the twilight of his career.

There are similarities in their games. Slim and only around six foot tall, Garcia cannot rely on physicality to deal with opposing attackers, instead using his intelligence and alertness to deal with danger, just as Pique has done at Camp Nou for more than a decade.

However, he is also mature and grounded away from the pitch, which is why Barca were so upset when he left in the summer of 2017. Garcia admits it was tough leaving the Spanish giants but he has no regrets about his decision.

“When I was at Barca I had the offer to come here – to start with the Under-18s and then they had a mini-plan for my future. At the end, I could train with the first team if everything was going right,” he explains.

“It was a difficult decision for me to come here because I left my family, my friends, it’s a different country, a different language. But it’s going really well.

“I was lucky because I was in Barcelona and at Barcelona we played the same way. So, for me, it wasn’t like a big, big difference. Obviously, when [Pep] demands different things, it’s more or less the same.”

Garcia’s development at City has escalated quickly. In his first season, he was part of the U-18s side narrowly beaten by his former club in the semi-finals of the UEFA Youth League.

The following summer, he made a huge impression on City’s pre-season tour to the United States where he shone in games against Liverpool and Bayern Munich.

A first-team debut then came four weeks before his 18th birthday in the Carabao Cup victory away to Leicester City, and he is now made 14 appearances for Guardiola’s side.

While he may have had more appearances if he had left to go elsewhere on loan, the City boss believes his young players with the most potential – Phil Foden, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Tommy Doyle – will learn more from training with City’s senior players.

Garcia, though, admits that when he first moved up to join the first team, he was not sure he was ready for the challenge.

“Well, the first day, no,” he admits. “It was different because watching them on TV and then being lucky to train with them, it was like a shock for me the first time seeing Kevin (De Bruyne) or Sergio (Aguero) or David (Silva).

“Players that you have been watching for many years on the TV, winning trophies – and then training with them, I was so lucky.

“Everyday is like a game now because they are friends and probably the best strikers in the world. So, for me, it is something that is incredible, because I’m still young and to train with them is incredible.”

Guardiola has continued to push his young defender, admitting he was “not a nice guy” when he started him on the left-side of a central pairing in Premier League wins against Sheffield United and Everton.

“I just need to keep training hard to show the manager that anytime he needs me, I’m ready for it,” Garcia adds. “Keep learning from them because they are the best players I could probably train with.”

City are set to strengthen their back line this summer after a serious injury to Aymeric Laporte exposed their lack of a replacement for former captain Vincent Kompany.

Garcia’s emergence, however, has helped to ease the absence of two key defenders this season, and the young Spaniard is set to play a significant part in City’s future, no matter who arrives in the transfer window.