Manchester City's 19-year-old youngster Katongo was interviewed by the club's officials after being named to the team's roster for the U.S. tour, expressing his anticipation and longing for the upcoming preseason as well as his personal career development.
Katongo is looking forward to training and playing with a stronger first team, which he believes will be a rare opportunity to learn and grow. He singled out Pep Guardiola in particular, with the guidance of the world's top coach a dream come true for any young player. "Guardiola is one of the best coaches in the world and I hope to learn a thing or two under him." Katongo said with anticipation.
Katongo makes no secret of his ambitions regarding his personal goals. "It would mean a lot to me if I could make my first-team debut. I've been playing for City's youth team for a long time so it would be great to show myself on a higher stage." He confessed.
Additionally, Katongo has expressed an interest in the contrasting styles of play between Barcelona and Manchester City. He believes that while there are similarities in style between Manchester City and Barcelona, he is looking forward to witnessing the differences between the two and drawing inspiration from them.
Reflecting on his loan spell at Peterborough United last season, Katongo says the experience has made him more mature and resilient. "The first few months were very difficult because I didn't get a chance to play at first. But once I started playing, I really enjoyed my time at Peterborough United." He shared. The experience of competing for the League One trophy in particular has become one of the best memories of his career. "It felt surreal playing in front of so many fans for the first time, but the moment I saw the trophy I knew all the hard work had been worth it."
Katongo also showed a positive attitude towards the play-offs. Despite failing to achieve the desired result in the semi-final, he still enjoyed every moment of the game and learned valuable lessons from it. "Even though we missed out on getting to Wembley, it did give me more motivation to achieve the best." He said firmly.
