Guardiola makes stunning statement about Man City players as he compares them to Messi and Ronaldo

- Man City manager Guardiola is proud of his current squad

- The Spaniard insisted he cannot trade any of them for another player

- Guardiola admitted that he would love to have a player like Messi in his team but insisted his players are doing great

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Pep Guardiola is proud of his Manchester City squad for their impressive performances despite not having anyone like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, or even Neymar in his team.

The Citizens are edging closer to winning their third Premier League title in the last four seasons as they sit at the summit of the table with 53 points.

Manchester United are the closest to them and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men are seven points behind their rivals while defending champions are fourth on the table with 40 points.

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Jose Mourinho's Tottenham Hotspur slipped to ninth on the log after their recent 3-0 defeat to the Etihad Stadium side.

Guardiola particularly hailed the contributions of Fernandinho who has kept the team together with his leadership qualities. The City boss was quoted by Goal saying:

"We don't have players who can win the game by himself - we don't have a Messi, a Cristiano, [Kylian] Mbappe or Neymar. We have to do it as a team.

"I'll be honest, I would love to have a player who scores every single game four goals and runs like these players run, I would love it.

"[But] I wouldn't change any player that we have right now today, in this season. All of them. That's why many times I praised our captain Fernandinho, like how he helps on and off the pitch to stick together in the bad moments.

"The big teams, the big players show it in the bad moments, in the good moments everyone is easy to play, and we had the bad moments this season."

Solskjaer's men would have maintained their five points deficit on the table but their 1-1 draw against West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns means they dropped two more points after Everton's outing.

Meanwhile, City are the most formidable team so far this year having won all 16 games they have played since the start of 2021 - extending their record for the most wins in a row for an English top-flight side in all competitions.

Guardiola's men are also unbeaten in their last 23 matches in all competitions (W20 D3), conceding just six goals during this period.

City's run has continued even though Kevin De Bruyne – widely considered the team's best offensive player – has missed their last five league games with a hamstring injury.

Legit.ng earlier reported that Fulham's chances of avoiding relegation at the end of this season were brightened last weekend after Nigerian star Josh Maja inspired them to a 2-0 win over Everton at Goodison Park.

Though The Cottagers still sit 18th on the Premier League table with 18 points from 23 topflight encounters so far, they, however, stand a chance if they maintain this form.

The 22-year-old moved to the Craven Cottage during the January transfer window in a six months deal from French side Bordeaux and was handed his first start against the Toffees.

Oluwatomiwa is a sports editor with Legit.ng. He has over eight years of field and office experience in the media industry. He graduated from the Nigerian Institute of Journalism in 2014 with HND in Mass Communication. Connect with him on Twitter @TomiwaBabalola.