Pep Guardiola has explained why Manchester City resisted the interest in Nico O'Reilly following an approach from Chelsea in the January transfer window.

The 19-year-old midfielder was heavily linked with a move to Stamford Bridge as Enzo Maresca looked to bolster his options in the middle of the park. O'Reilly only made his Premier League debut for Manchester City last month, coming off the subs bench in a 6-0 win over Ipswich Town at Portman Road.

While the England Under-20 international has only featured once in the English top-flight, he has been given starts in the domestic cup competitions. Despite having played less than 350 minutes of senior football, he has impressed and caught the attention of Chelsea.

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The Blues approached City regarding O'Rielly's availability but were rebuffed. It's said that initial talks collapsed when the Premier League champions insisted on including a buy-back clause.

Explaining City's decision to keep some of their academy products, Guardiola said: "We are not able to loan or sell players right now - we have had a lot of injury problems. We need O’Reilly, [James] McAtee, [Divin] Mubama - we have a lot of games and we need them."

Guardiola has been impressed by the 19-year-old and recalled how amazed he felt when O'Reilly trained with the senior team for the first time. "He had a long, long injury last season," Guardiola previously said. He came back in the middle of last season and trained with us and I said, ‘Wow’.

"This guy has good things. From corners, good header, so strong in the duels, in the small spaces he moves well. As an attacking midfielder, you will see him arrive [in the box], he can play the dual position, holding midfielder, attacking midfielder. It’s because of the academy, we are blessed to have these players."