Pep Guardiola credits Johan Cruyff for his current standing as one of the world's best managers.

“He was unique, totally unique,” said Guardiola. “Without him I wouldn’t be here. I know for sure this is why I am, right now, the manager of Manchester City and before that Bayern Munich and Barcelona.”

Guardiola played for Cruyff at Barcelona.

“Before he came we didn’t have a cathedral of football, this beautiful church, at Barcelona. We needed something new. And now it is something that has lasted. It was built by one man, by Johan Cruyff, stone by stone. That’s why he was special.

“I would not be able to do what he did. You hear all these people saying: ‘Oh Pep, what a good manager he is.’ Forget about it. Cruyff was the best, by far. Creating something new is the difficult part. To make it and build it and get everyone to follow? Amazing. That’s why, when I was Barcelona manager, I went to see Johan many times. I made especially sure I went a lot in my first year when we won everything, absolutely everything.”

Guardiola became manager of Barcelona at the age of 37.

“I always went that season to see Johan to try to make him feel how grateful I was to him. Of course I wanted to talk to him about new ideas, but the main feeling I always had when I said goodbye was that he might feel how pleased I am and see how deep my gratitude goes.”

On the cover of Cruyff's newly released autobiography, Guardiola is quoted as saying: “I knew nothing about football before knowing Cruyff.”

Guardiola is asked about the quote.

“I thought I knew about football but when I started to work with him a new world appeared in front of me. Not just me – but a whole generation of players. Johan helped us understand the game. Football is the most difficult game in the world because it is open and every situation is completely different and you have to make decisions minute by minute. But I was a lucky guy. I am sitting here now because I met him. If not for him it would not have been possible.”

Guardiola considers Cruyff the most influential figure in soccer history.

“He was the most influential person in football history. He changed not one club. He changed two clubs – as a player and a coach. It’s impossible to find another guy like this. OK, he did it at Ajax and they won the European Cup when Michels was there – but the player was Johan. After that he was a coach there and then he came to Barcelona. It was a big club but it didn’t have a specific football culture. We had one Argentina coach who played an Argentinian style, then came a German coach who played a German style. But then Johan arrived and he said: ‘Guys, now we play this way.’"