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City emulated rivals Manchester United on Saturday when Rodri's second half finish at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul broke Inter Milan's resolve in the Champions League final.

The Citizens had comfortably seen off Arsenal's challenge in the Premier League title race to defend their crown before Ilkay Gundogan emerged as the hero at Wembley in the all-Manchester FA Cup final.

City's squad value is worth hundreds of millions of pounds – with Jack Grealish topping the rich list following his move from Aston Villa in 2021 – but Holloway doesn't buy into the notion that Guardiola has 'inherited' the best players.

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 27: Ian Holloway, Manager of Queens Park Rangers during the Sky Bet Championship match between Queens Park Rangers and Brentford at Loftus Road on November 27, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

In fact, the play-off winning ex-Bloomfield Road manager believes the Spaniard would have kept his Seasiders side up during their one and only term in the top flight in 2010/11.

"I think Pep could have kept Blackpool in the Premier League," he said, in conversation with the Lord Ping: 'Red or Black?' video series. "His knowledge of the game and how much he wants to impart that onto his team and get them to buy-into him.

"Yes, he's got the the best players in the world, but they're still drilled brilliantly. I'd love to watch what he does with them for a week and then go off and find my own version of it. I do think he would have kept my Blackpool team up, with his knowledge."

Haaland, who moved to the Etihad from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, didn't score in any of City's final six fixtures of the campaign, but managed to break numerous records over the course of the season.

Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola (R) speaks with Manchester City's Norwegian striker Erling Haaland during a training session at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul on June 9, 2023, on the eve of the UEFA Champions League final against Inter Milan. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

The Norwegian international's 36 PL goals eclipsed the numbers previously set up Andy Cole and Alan Shearer (35 goals in 42-game campaigns) and Mo Salah (32 goals in a 38-game season).

His 52 goals across all competitions in a single season also surpassed Salah's return (44 goals in 2017/18) and Ruud van Nistelrooy's tally (44 goals in 2002/03).

Holloway is confident the striker would have closed the league campaign with close to half-a-ton of goals in his Blackpool team, which only netted 55 times in total as they were relegated back to the Championship.

He said: "I think he might have got about 45. We did create some chances. We tried to carry on what we were doing in the Championship in the Premier League.

"I got something wrong at the end and kept two full backs wide all the time and if we should have just tucked on in during the second half of the season.

"My team were magnificent and did us proud. Every year since, we'd have stayed up and finished 15th this year with our 39 points. And people call me lucky!"

Ian Holloway gives his assessment of how Manchester City's Pep Guardiola and Erling Haaland would have fared at Blackpool during 2010/11 campaign