Pep Guardiola hails Jack Grealish's 'incredible debut' for Man City despite defeat by Tottenham

Pep Guardiola insists Jack Grealish had an 'incredible debut' for Manchester City – despite not being able to prevent a 1-0 defeat by Tottenham on the opening day of the Premier League season.

City's new £100million signing made his Premier League bow for the club on Sunday and was even named in the starting XI by Guardiola, completing the full 90 minutes at White Hart Lane.

The 25-year-old was ultimately powerless in preventing defeat on his debut, with Son Heung-min scoring a superb winner in front of a capacity crowd at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

However, Guardiola was left mightily impressed by the former Aston Villa skipper's performance and is sure the England international will go on to play a key role this season.

When asked what impressed him most, Guardiola told reporters after the game: 'His personality and influence. He got three or four fouls in the first minutes and immediately he woke up and showed himself.

'He has incredible continuity, he is so dangerous close to the box, when we have the ball he always has an extra pass.

'He got three or four fouls in the first minutes and immediately he woke up and showed. He has incredible continuity, he is so dangerous close to the box, when we have the ball he always has an extra pass.

'He had an incredible game and incredible debut and will be so important for us. I congratulate him for having the personality to try and try until the end.'

Raheem Sterling was also left impressed by Grealish's impact, and believes there's plenty more to come from his Three Lions team-mate.

'I played with Jack a few times,' he said on the club's official website. 'It's a good partnership but it's still early days with me and him.

'We will learn each other's game more as the season goes on and hopefully build a better partnership for the rest of the campaign.'