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MANCHESTER. — Pep Guardiola can be a difficult man to read sometimes. It is the way he likes it. He can explain things in such a way that leaves you scratching your head as he is prone to doing when anxious and, above all, reaches for left-field points to illustrate his thinking and genius in equal measure. His mind can go at such a pace that on occasion keeping up is tricky, particularly with the convoluted mechanics of the Manchester City manager’s ideal.

Yet when the names of three bright young things arise, Guardiola keeps things very simple indeed. For him, Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane represent City’s future and who is to argue?

Certainly not Sergio Aguero, who admitted recently that he has a bit of learning to do from Jesus, the £27 million signing from Palmeiras whose start to English Premier League life has been a breeze.

“The impact from Gabriel was immediate,” Guardiola enthused ahead of last night’s trip to Bournemouth.

“They are so dynamic, all three. All of them are so good making runs in behind and good in transition between the lines.

“They are all around 20 years old; 19, 20, 21. They are so, so young. They played in these three games, they are going to play in important games.”

It is why, barring an unlikely late change of heart, the trio will start on the south coast and continue from where they left off against Swansea City last week.

Dynamism and the appreciation of their roles is exactly what the City manager is after, with his front three operating as an attacking carousel. The more they move, the more opponents spin.

Jesus, stationed centrally, has no qualms at pulling wide to allow either of his two comrades to break the lines and that will frighten Eddie Howe, whose side shipped six at Everton nine days ago.

Guardiola also alluded to the three up top — with two wingers insistent on constantly dribbling — and three in midfield being the formation he wants to settle on in England.

“It’s the system I’ve used for almost all of my career,” the Catalan added. “It’s flexible. It depends on the quality of the players. Yes, I feel comfortable in that way.”

Comfortable is an understatement. Guardiola’s Barcelona executed the same principle with deadly efficiency, lining up David Villa and either Pedro or Alexis Sanchez alongside Lionel Messi with Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta and Xavi behind. Everybody knows how that particular story ended.

For Guardiola at City, it allows the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva to “control” games behind, picking teams off and arriving late in the box to assist the central striker and other wide man coming off his flank.

With his quickness of thought, De Bruyne should be re-energised by the emergence of Jesus. The blinding of the movement in front of him will only help City going forward. Crucially, De Bruyne has been shifting back into the middle permanently.

The old adage of get your best players in the most dangerous positions applies here and while the Belgian has by no means been a square peg slightly wider, this seems more of a natural fit.

Jesus has taken the majority of plaudits in recent weeks, with three goals in his first three starts — including two against Swansea — but Sane has started coming into his own. That began before Christmas with a goal against Arsenal and continued after he’d overcome injury. Two more followed in games with Tottenham and Crystal Palace, although those have not been his stand-out moments.

Sane’s statistics sound like music to Guardiola, who revels at the Germany international’s insatiable appetite for recovering possession back high up the pitch, his willingness to gallop and hunt for the ball.

He never stops sprinting, his numbers dwarfing those of Aguero’s and with Sterling the only man coming close in that regard. Sterling is the best young winger this country owns, despite the continued flak and microscopic criticism.

Sane’s development has taken a little time. He struggled to settle in England after last summer’s £37 million switch from Schalke and regular visits from his mum have helped.

“Leroy, in the beginning, was a little bit ‘I don’t know where I am’,” Guardiola said. “He played really well against Tottenham and against Arsenal, against really good teams.

“Now without the ball, they are so aggressive in terms of pressure, so they don’t have too much time to think about the central defenders. But, for instance, Raheem is gaining experience as well.

“They played really well in the last three games, for many, many reasons.” — Mailonline.