Manchester City academy chief Brian Marwood is full of praise for new manager Manuel Pellegrini.

Pellegrini replaces the sacked Roberto Mancini, who never saw eye-to-eye with Marwood.

"I've been very impressed with everything he talked about - not just in the first team," Marwood said of Pellegrini in an interview with City's in-house media. "You look at his record in the Champions League - with Villarreal and Malaga - it's incredible. [Malaga] were within minutes of knocking out Borussia Dortmund [in April]. Everyone at our club knows the strength and qualities of Dortmund. We played them twice and found it very difficult.

"[There is his] man-management, too. I spoke to Roque Santa Cruz [who spent last season on loan at Malaga] and he had nothing but great things to say."