Antoine Semenyo lifts lid on Pep Guardiola's office secrets and behaviour in team meetings

Pep Guardiola immediately made Antoine Semenyo feel welcome with pleasant aromas and soothing music when they first met at Manchester City .

Guardiola, 55, has built a reputation as a demanding perfectionist. And while Semenyo has witnessed that aspect of the iconic manager as well, he was surprised to discover his new gaffer was such a welcoming host.

Speaking to In The Mixer , brought to you by Sky Bet, Semenyo described his initial visit to the Catalan's office: "He was just so energetic. Went into his office, he's got soft music playing in the background, smells so nice in his office.

"He was just like, 'We're happy to have you here. Continue your fine form here and hopefully [we'll] compete for the league'."

Yet Semenyo nearly embarrassed himself in front of his new colleagues when one of Pep's anxious tendencies took him by surprise.

"He is generally relaxed, to be fair," he continued. "It's when you get into the meetings, that's where he's serious.

"I remember the first [team] meeting I had and he was just pacing in front of the meeting room. [I was] thinking, 'Is this normal?' Looking back, no-one's laughing or anything, so I'm on my own here. But he's just so passionate."

Semenyo has begun his spell at the Etihad brilliantly with eight goals and three assists in 19 appearances. However, not all of his finest qualities are being fully utilised. The 26-year-old was frequently deployed for long-throw duties at Bournemouth to great effect. However, he has been prohibited from launching the ball into the box under Guardiola.

Title challengers Arsenal have established themselves as the Premier League's set-piece masters this season with long throws and corners wreaking havoc. But it's not a tactic he expects Guardiola will embrace any time soon.

Semenyo said: "Yeah, I have got a long throw. I don't know where, how [I got it]. Maybe it's because I'm so strong...

"It was Andoni [Iraola] who saw it and was like, 'Phwoar, we've got to use it. We've got to use it'. I don't think Pep wants to see long throws, I'll be honest.

"Some of the boys will be like, 'You gonna take a long throw?' And I'm like, 'I dunno'. Because obviously Pep wants to keep it on the floor..."

View 2 Images

Semenyo credits soon-to-depart Bournemouth manager Iraola for much of his progression over recent seasons. And he highlighted one similarity between Iraola and new boss Guardiola, which contradicts suggestions that Pep stifles the creativity of certain players, such as Jack Grealish or Phil Foden .

When asked about the biggest impact Iraola had on his game, Semenyo said: "Just playing more free. A lot of our training sessions were chaos and you kind of got to do what you want as a person.

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! Latest news, analysis and much more on Mirror Football's Facebook page

"I was just freestyling, doing different things and [Andoni] was like, 'You should do it in a game'. And I'm like, 'You want me to do rainbow flicks and stuff in a game?' He said, 'Yeah, if you want to. Just play free, just be yourself'."

"From that day, I've always just been free. And I still stick to what he said today with the Man City team. Just being free and enjoying myself."