Pep Guardiola and Erik ten Hag have always been effusive in their praise of one another.
The Dutchman described the two years he worked alongside Guardiola at Bayern Munich as 'like winning the lottery'.
And when it was rumoured Ten Hag was going to take the Manchester United job back in April, Guardiola joked his old colleague should come to City instead.
What is clear is that the Ten Hag vision of playing the game that is slowly unfurling at Old Trafford, and the meticulous attention to detail required to realise it, are influenced by those formative years watching Guardiola hard at work on the next training pitch.