Pep Guardiola admits the chance to play for Barcelona's first team under Johan Cruyff saw him pass up a dance with a 'beautiful brunette' on a night out.
Guardiola made his debut for the Catalan giants in 1989, when he was just 18-years-old and Cruyff is one of his footballing idols.
When told the three-time Ballon d'Or winner wanted him to feature in a pre-season friendly, Guardiola abandoned ALL of his plans for that evening.
Advert
He wrote in 'My People My Football': "I don’t even think it was 7 o’clock, I was relaxing in a disco.
"Frankly, I was more worried about a brunette than anything else and therefore I had decided that when the slow songs came on I would take her for a dance.
"All of this was going on when I saw a team-mate from La Masia arrive to tell me that a group of academy players were to travel to Banyoles with the first team. And that I was amongst those selected.
"I never did dance with the brunette, who was certainly beautiful.
"My mind was already on other things."
Guardiola played in central midfield and it'll come as no surprise he was elegant and composed on the ball.
Those are the makings of a Cruyff player - but the Dutch legend was disappointed with how slow Guardiola was.
Not something you'd associate with him, given the intensity Manchester City play at.
He continued: "I got to know the Barca first-team manager’s philosophy first hand. His assessment of my debut was thus: 'You played slower than my grandmother.' No need to say anything else!"
Guardiola would spend 11 years with Barcelona and he won six La Liga titles as well as the European Cup.
He had spells in Italy with Brescia and Roma before joining Al Ahli in Qatar in 2003, then ending his career with Mexican outfit Dorados in 2006.
After retirement, Guardiola went straight into coaching with Barcelona B and took over the first team in 2008.
The 51-year-old is now known as one of the best managers of all time and has won a number of trophies with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and now City, who are currently 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Topics: Barcelona, Pep Guardiola, Johan Cruyff
Daniel Marland