Pep Guardiola joked that Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol is the “best winger on the planet” after his impressive goalscoring performance in Saturday’s 4-0 victory over Fulham.

Gvardiol, signed as a centre-back for £77million from RB Leipzig last summer, has hit his best-ever run of scoring form of late.

The 22-year-old has now notched five times in just his last seven games across all competitions, having only opened his tally for City last month.

“The first goal… we signed the best winger on the planet,” Guardiola said in his post-match press conference at Craven Cottage.

“After Wolves, three days off, he was the only one who went to the training centre for his recovery.

“We make an incredible signing for many, many years to come.”

Gvardiol opened the scoring early on against Fulham with a composed finish into the bottom corner, after a clever one-two with Kevin De Bruyne.

He then poked home his second goal and City’s third, putting the game beyond Fulham’s reach, from a Bernardo Silva curled cross in the second half.

The Croatian international had the opportunity to score a hat-trick and would have become the first defender ever to do so in the Premier League, but allowed Julian Alvarez responsibility for a stoppage-time penalty.

Despite his remarkable performance, Guardiola still expects more from the defender.

The Spanish boss added: “[In the] second half he was not at his best, lost a lot of balls, and as a defender you have to be tight.

“For him to add the goals he is, it is more than welcome, but he has to be more tight. But he is 21-years-old and he will improve.”

Guardiola was also delighted with the rest of his City squad as they remained in pole position for an unprecedented fourth successive Premier League title and moved two points clear of Arsenal at the summit ahead of the Gunners travelling to face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.

“The great players enjoy playing with great pressure,” he said. “These players in the last few years have been able to do it and we are again in the latter stages.

“Our dream is as we said a few weeks ago when they [Arsenal] lost against Aston Villa, was to arrive in the last games with it in our hands, to play West Ham at home with the destiny belonging to us.

“We played really well and now we recover, go back to Manchester, then come back to London to play the final [against Tottenham], the big final we have to try and retain our title.”