Pep Guardiola sends important message to Newcastle United and name drops £47m trio

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has backed Newcastle United to “learn their lesson” from their first season back in Europe.

Guardiola’s men knocked the Magpies out of the FA Cup at the quarter-final stage on Saturday evening via a 2-0 win. It extends the club’s long wait for a domestic trophy.

The focus swiftly of Newcastle now switches to the Premier League, where they sit in 10th. United are eyeing another European place for next season, and Guardiola has tipped Newcastle to come back stronger.

United have gone from qualifying for the Champions League last term to struggling to make the top seven.

"We have done it, Liverpool and ourselves. Arsenal joined us last season but the season before was not that,” said Guardiola.

"This question of [how do Newcastle manage], I'm not there so I cannot judge but I wish them all the best. I respect Eddie Howe, he was at Bournemouth so we've had many battles.”

"Newcastle, they came up another step, another level and were there and for the first time they play in four competitions. This means they play every three days, especially at the beginning [of the season].

"When you're doing that for the first time, it's not easy for any club. I've not been there so I don't know the reason why but I'm pretty sure they will take lessons from that.”

Guardiola then highlighted Newcastle’s injuries list this campaign which has sometime hit double figures.

“They've had a lot of injuries with [Nick] Pope, the goalkeeper, and many important players which is hard when you're having to play every three, four days - it's difficult.

He added. "They have fast-paced quality players, Bruno Guimaraes, and all these players. [Fabian] Schar last season was unbelievable but last season he played one game a week. This season he's played a lot which is completely different.

"When you have experience, you can handle the training, the minutes, the many things. When it's the first time it's hard and I'm pretty sure they will learn their lesson."