Pep Guardiola has heaped praise on the impact Johan Cruyff has on his coaching career.

The Spaniard was coached by the great late Dutchman at Barcelona and because of his influence, Guardiola now finds himself at Manchester City, having already managed Barca and Bayern Munich.

Cruyff sadly passed away in March after a battle with lung cancer but Guaridola was able to remember him on Thursday at the London launch of the Ajax and Barca legend's posthumously-released book 'My Turn: A Life of Total Football'.

"I was a lucky guy, I coached City, Bayern and Barca because I met him," he said.

"I thought I knew about football but when I met him, a whole new world opened in front of me.

"He taught us - not only me, but a generation of players - to understand the game, to understand why you took that decision.

"Football is the most complicated game, it's very open and you have to take a lot of decisions. His impact on people was enormous.

"He wasn't sitting during training sessions, he was playing with us, but better than us. He would not tell us how to do things, he would do them. Every single training session was a masterclass.

"He had knowledge, charisma, personality. Everyone knows about football, everyone, but there's not many people that you will follow if he tells you to. You followed him.

"He was the most courageous manager I ever met. He believed in the 'efecto mariposa' (butterfly effect), that a good pass at the beginning could create a wonderful thing at the end."