Already at City, Diablito Echeverri joins the list of Argentinians managed by Pep.

After staying one more year at River, finally the Diablito lands in European soccer, more precisely at Pep Guardiola's Manchester City. The young player arrives in the midst of a bad citizen era both locally (far from the leader Liverpool) and continentally (having been eliminated from the Champions League round of 16 by Real Madrid after barely qualifying) and will try to give a fresh face to the team of the experienced coach.

"Echeverri? Good, good skill. He's welcome. We're going to help him," said the coach when asked about the arrival of the young Argentine.

Since he became a coach, Pep has had 11 Argentinians in the different teams he has managed. Below we will review in chronological order this elite list in which all had a past or present in the Argentine National Team, a clear demonstration of the Spanish coach's enhancement.

- Lionel Messi

The best player of all time marked a turning point both in Barcelona's history and in the coach's career. The Rosario star was under Pep's orders between 2008 and 2012, being the one he managed the most with 219 matches, in which Leo scored 211 goals and won 14 titles, including the famous "Sextete" of 2009 (Spanish League, Copa del Rey, Champions League, Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup, and Club World Cup).

- Gabriel Milito

The defender was managed for three seasons by Guardiola at Barcelona, between 2008 and 2011. The former Independiente player didn't have much action in this cycle, playing only 34 matches and scoring just one goal, due to his constant injuries, however, player and coach managed to have a very good relationship. A clear example of this was Pep's decision to let Milito give the pre-match talk before the 2009 Club World Cup final against Estudiantes de La Plata so that his teammates would understand what it was like to face a South American team.

- Javier Mascherano

The historic Barcelona defender was a specific request from Guardiola for the 2010/2011 season after seeing his performance at Liverpool, having to shell out 22 million euros to secure his services. After initially playing him a bit as a central midfielder, Pep moved him to defense, where the "Jefecito" quickly took over the central position, enhancing him in that role.  They shared 2 years at the club, marking the first 97 of Masche's 333 matches at Barcelona and won 6 titles.

- Sergio "Kun" Agüero

After his successful stint at Bayern Munich, in 2016 Pep would arrive at Manchester City, finding a Kun in full physical and playing form. Like with Messi, Guardiola is the coach who managed him the most, with 182 matches in which the forward scored 124 goals. They were together until 2021, when the player didn't renew his contract with the citizens and moved to Barcelona, where he had to retire due to health issues.

- Pablo Zabaleta

The defender was another of the squad's leaders at the time of the Spanish coach's arrival. Unlike Kun, Pep managed him for a very short time, being under his orders  only in the 2016/2017 season in 32 matches, where the right-back scored 2 goals and didn't win any titles. After his time at City, in 2017 he moved to West Ham, retiring there in 2020.

- Nicolás Otamendi

Ota is another member of the Scaloneta who had a strong influence from Pep. The coach managed him for four seasons at Manchester City, playing 161 matches, scoring 10 goals, and winning eight titles. Additionally, Guardiola is also the coach who managed him the most throughout his career. However, in 2020, unable to guarantee him continuity, the relationship came to an end and the defender moved to Benfica, where he is currently the captain.

- Willy Caballero

The former goalkeeper was also part of Guardiola's debut season at Manchester City. During that period, he played 27 matches under his direction while competing for the position with Claudio Bravo. In 2017, not renewing his contract, Willy Caballero became a free agent and joined Chelsea. He eventually ended his career at Southampton in 2023 at the age of 41.

- Julián Álvarez

After shining at River and taking his first steps with the Argentine National Team, he would join City at the beginning of 2022, becoming a key piece for the team. He was part of the historic season in which the English team won the Premier League, the FA Cup, and the Champions League.

His adaptation to European soccer was immediate, showing his quality both as a center forward and in more withdrawn attacking roles, however, he wasn't satisfied with the amount of playing time Pep gave him, so in mid-2024 he would move to Atlético de Madrid under Cholo Simeone, leaving a mark of 103 matches played and 36 goals scored.

- Máximo Perrone

The midfielder from Vélez arrived at City in January 2023 as a prospect for the future. Although he had few opportunities in the first team due to competition in the midfield, his talent and projection led him to gain experience in training with Guardiola and to seek continuity elsewhere to continue his development in mid-2024. While at City he played only two matches, but won 4 titles. He is currently on loan at Como in Italy.

Two special cases: Benjamín Garre and Bruno Zucculini

The left-footed player born in 2000, recently signed by Vasco da Gama, also got to be managed by Pep. The grandson of Mago Garré, world champion in Mexico 86, left Vélez's youth ranks in 2016 to join Manchester City's Youth Academy and played two friendlies with the first team thanks to his good performances.

Like Garre, Zuculini wasn't considered by Guardiola, only being part of training sessions, so he had to go on loan to Hellas Verona.