Pep Guardiola insists Thomas Frank is destined to join one of Europe’s biggest clubs.

Brentford ran Manchester City close at the Etihad with Yoane Wissa opening the scoring inside 30 seconds before two Erling Haaland goals secured a 2-1 win for the hosts.

And when asked if he was surprised that Frank hasn’t been snapped up by one of Europe’s elite, Guardiola replied: "It is a question of time.

“Thomas is one of the best. It is going to happen."

Guardiola lavished praise on Frank and his Brentford side after their performance at the Etihad, adding: ”I am a big fan of Thomas Frank.

“I don't remember in eight or nine years have a team played the way they played. We were lucky with the deflection because they deserved 1-0.

"We struggled a lot to read when to shoot and press. We were lucky to find the goals but in the second half we were better and probably deserved to score more goals.

"We needed that to feel how difficult everything is, how difficult the Premier League is every game.

"People say City are so strong but the Premier League is so difficult. Today was the real proof.

"I am a big fan of Brentford. They play long balls but they have the ability to play as well. I give a lot of credit to my players, from where we come from in the past but to still be able to suffer. I prefer to win that way than four or five nil. We need that."

On Haaland he added: “Erling in the space is so difficult to control. It was a tough week for him but yesterday it was a bit better, we tried to help him."

Bees boss Frank was disappointed with the result in Manchester, but was proud of his side’s performance.

“Standing here I am a combination of extremely disappointed we didn't get something out of this game but on the other hand very proud,” Frank said.

"The first 25 minutes was world class, we were better than Manchester City. Second half they were more on top and made it difficult. A point would have been fair and not often teams can come here and say that.

"You could say if we need to win here we needed to take more of the chances we had in the first half.

"I respect Pep Guardiola very much and a lot of the reasons I do is because he made tactical changes at half time and then he is not too proud to put the ball down in the corner because they need to win. We must have done something right today.

"This is a fantastic group to work with and we need to keep doing this. Haaland is a fantastic striker, he got a little bit of help today with a deflection and a mistake we don't usually do."