A case of Laa-Laa Touré or even Po-lo Touré when he was still at the club.
With a growing influx of players at the Etihad, City are encouraging their foreign players to watch children’s programmes in order to get a better grasp of the English language.
Kun Aguero has surprised a few people after recently giving interviews in English after struggling to come to terms with the language and the like of Jesus Navas and Alvaro Negredo are using programmes aimed at children, such as Teletubbies, and are reaping the benefits.
The Independent is one of the papers carrying the story today after City sources revealed that the new players are given language packs on arrival and advised to watch the juvenile programmes to aid their learning.
“City recognise the importance of players speaking English, which will help them both on and off the pitch,” the source said.
“The club lays on tutors who help the players and these packs assist them with learning. The children’s TV shows are useful for the players to learn English. Some of the players enjoy watching them more than their kids.”
And it works the other way too as Negredo has been helping Manchester school children to learn Spanish.
In a video on the club’s website the striker can be seen teaching children to say simple phrases such as ‘What is the weather like in Spain?’ and later speaks, albeit in Spanish, about how he likes working with young people and teaching them a skill.
We thought that the City owners were like kids in sweet shops with their vast riches, but maybe that line is more apt for the foreign legion at the club.
