This article is part of Football FanCast's Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba's haircuts to League Two relegation battles...

Pep Guardiola is no stranger to pulling through and developing young prospects.

Even stemming from his early days at Barcelona, the Catalan coach introduced La Masia players and kept them in his squad, and it was during his time that some of their greatest talents like Xavi, Iniesta, and even Lionel Messi, rose to prominence.

But one of his most recent and also one of the most successful projects was definitely the one of Raheem Sterling.

The 24-year-old winger was always a big talent but under Guardiola he has turned into a world-beater, going through a full transformation.

This is best seen in his ability in front of goal, which has greatly improved since his early days when he was heavily criticised for that exact same thing.

His coach addressed the issue himself, stating:

"The first season, he was scared [in front of goal], he was looking [and thinking], ‘Who is the guy I am going to pass the ball to?’. “He was not looking [to score even though] the keeper was there. We spoke about that and said, ‘Try to score goals’."

But now, he's banging in goals for fun, already tallying 14 in a total of 19 games played across all competitions up until this weekend in 2019/20 and 25 in 2018/19.

Needless to say, Guardiola's magic worked wonders for him.

For that reason, Manchester City's links to Bayer Leverkusen's Kai Havertz don't really come as a surprise, nor should they, as Sport Bild (via Metro) report Guardiola has taken an interest in the youngster but he's not nearly the only one.

The 20-year-old attacking midfielder is one of the brightest young talents around and was once likened to Michael Ballack, who had a similar style of play back in the day.

Havertz has already registered 31 goals and 23 assists for his current team in the Bundesliga despite still being so young and practically at the very beginning of his career.

The knack for goals is already present in his profile but he's far from being that developed goal-machine that he could become one day - but only if his talent is properly developed.

And who could be the one to take him to the next level? Why, Guardiola, of course.

Still, Sport Bild (via Metro) state that Bayer Leverkusen might ask for around £111m for the kid.

Are City prepared to fork out that much? It remains to be seen.

But one thing is for sure, under Guardiola, only sky would be the limit.

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