Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City would not be sitting 15 points clear in the Premier League without the performances of Nicolas Otamendi this season. Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling have attracted much praise for their performances this season, but Guardiola described Otamendi as “one of the hugest competitors” he has ever worked with.City defeated Newcastle 1-0 on Wednesday to earn their 18th successive league victory, but Guardiola believes not enough has been made of his side’s defensive character, epitomised by the Argentina international, during their unbeaten start to the season. LISTEN: Transfer Talk Podcast Pete Graves is joined by Dharmesh Sheth and Kaveh Solhekol to discuss the futures of Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Antoine Griezmann and Philippe Coutinho. “Without Nico it would not have been possible what we have done,” said Guardiola, who also described the impending return of John Stones as “huge news”.”Everybody has spoken about a lot of players like Raheem, Kevin, Sergio [Aguero], they deserve it, but if I can point some attention to a player who deserves the respect is Nico. “He has been amazing – he is one of the hugest competitors I have ever seen in my life.”I cannot imagine the situation we…