On winning the Treble
“I was actually chatting with Pep late this morning. Relief. Relief. It reminds me, winning this, it reminds me back to 2011/12, that QPR game, the first Premier League. There was relief in that game and then happiness. With the Champions League, we've tried so hard for so many years, you know that. And then to finally, finally do it last night, the first couple hours until now, it's relief, it's happiness, but it's really more relief. We finally have that trophy right here.”
On how special it was that HH Sheikh Mansour was in attendance for the final
“The most special. I mean, it's incredible. For Sheikh Mansour, given everything he has given to this club, given all the commitment, years of support, love, he's given passion to the club. And at the pinnacle, the final of the Champions League, to be here, to be able to attend it. He has so much love for this club and working with him over the last 15 years as part of City Football Group. He deserves this. He really does. And I'm so happy he was there yesterday."
On how City have grown in the UEFA Champions League and the atmosphere at the Etihad Stadium
“Well, we're arguably one of the most consistent teams in the Champions League for the last ten years, consistently in the group stages, consistently going forward. And if you look at just the last five years: quarter-finals, quarter-finals, final, semi-finals, finals and winning. So, there's a consistency in our performances in the Champions League. I think as a team, we are very mature as an organisation and very mature as a club overall. I think our fans, one of the great things, particularly this season, I found, is how the fans have embraced the Champions League. The atmosphere at the Etihad this year really, and I think it's something for all of us to take for the future, it's become truly a fortress.
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"What the fans give to the team spills over in the performances. And if you look at, Real Madrid semi-finals, 4-0, Bayern Munich quarter-finals, 3-0, Leipzig, round of 16, 7-0. And I hope and I wish that we can just take this now to another level. The Etihad is becoming what we always hoped for, which is truly the 12th man we always needed. And the players appreciate it, the coaches appreciate it, we appreciate it and the management team, thank you. Really, thank you to the fans for that. And exciting times, exciting times.”
On consistency in the Premier League
“It's actually the record I'm most proud of because it's a testament to everything we're doing and all the hard work that this club and every employee, everyone associated with the club, I think is so proud of because there was a UEFA dinner on Friday night, and I was asked a similar question: what's so special about Manchester City and about this group? And I said, it's that winning mentality, this winning mentality that produces the consistency you've just described year in, year out, not for one year, not for two years, not for three years, ten years across every competition, every competition we play in at every level.
"We play to win, we play to win. And that play-to-win applies to everyone. It's the players, it's the coaching staff, it's the physios, it's the management, the commercial guys, it's the receptionists, it's the folks at the kitchens, it's the media team, it's the digital team. Every individual associated with this, with this club, with this group, I think share that, that passion, that commitment.”
On building a legacy
“We're building a legacy for this club, a new modern legacy. And this modern legacy is in the modern Premier League and it's the last ten years, it's the last 15 years. And I think in that, what Manchester City continues to achieve, today the Treble has only been achieved once and it's only been achieved once because this is really the most difficult thing to possibly achieve in the world of football. To win the most difficult league in the world, the Premier League, and to win the most difficult competition in the world of sports in my view, the Champions League at the same time, combined with another cup competition, a great historic cup competition, the FA Cup, at the same time. It is incredible, which is why it's only been done once 24 years ago.
"And now this team has achieved that and this team has achieved that against incredible competition in the Premier League from 19 teams that are, as a group, the most competitive league in the world. And then to go in the Champions League and to do so in a run, beating the defending champions, Real Madrid, beating, in the final an incredible team, Inter Milan, who had an incredible run to get to the final and then beating also Bayern Munich. It's not like we had an easy run to the Champions League final. We did it the hard way and we did it with the highest level of football that I think I've ever seen. So all in all, that Treble, now you combine it with what you said, which was three in a row and by the way, five in six. Consistency, consistency. The Premier League is always, I think, the foundation to any success. You have to win the Premier League.”
On how to top this success
“Well, you always can top it because the future is the future and records are records and we as we've done every year, we keep building this legacy and building this incredible legacy every year with new achievements, new records, consistency. You look at next season, and guess what? Look what we have next year. Look what we have this summer, we have the Charity Shield, we have the Super Cup, we have the Club World Cup. The Club World Cup. For the first time, this club is going to be competing in the Super Cup and the Club World Cup. And we want to win these. We want to win these and we want to add them to the history of this great club, to the legacy of this great club.
"Everything we do is setting new records and new standards. Today I'm speaking to you but I'm already thinking about next year. Even yesterday, I think, you know, there was a joke between me and Ferran and Txiki and Pep, when we had had our moment, we looked at each other and it was, okay, now we've got to do it again.”
On Pep Guardiola extending his contract
“It was very important because he's such an important part of this club. He's an incredible, incredible leader. I knew where Pep's heart was and I knew where his mind was. So, I think I was never really concerned. We've had these conversations before. But the timing was important at the time. It was always very important because it gave clarity.”
On Guardiola spending seven years in Manchester
“Well, it shows you the environment that we have, which is a special environment and the environment every one of us plays a part in this. It's not just the management team, it's not just the players, it's not just the coaching staff. It's the city, it's the fans. It's the people, that entire ecosystem. It's a lifestyle decision. It's a personal decision. It's a human decision. It's a coaching decision for sure from him, from a professional standpoint. But it's all of that. And I think what we all provide for Pep is all of that. And that's what's kept him this long.”
On Erling Haaland’s impact and the conversation he had when he signed
"What an addition he has been. Going back to that conversation. So this was, I think, my first conversation post him signing the contract. But what amazed me about Erling is the confidence. He's got something special, confidence with respect. And to be having that conversation post signing your contract with your chairman and saying at the end of that conversation, ‘Mr. Chairman, I'm going to win the Champions League for you. I'm here to win the Champions League for Manchester City and we're going to win it’ a year ago is really a testament to the greatness of this player. And to show you where Erling is going, this is the beginning. And the scary part, this is just the beginning for him.”
On Haaland’s mentality
“Well, that's the beauty of Erling is that he's a champion. He's never satisfied. If it's one goal, if it's no goals, if it's two goals, if it's five goals, even five goals. And I remember when he scored five after the game, he was telling me, ‘Yeah, but I should have scored another three or four’, genuinely not joking. Like in his mind, he knows ‘I should have probably scored seven that night or even eight that night’. That’s that winning mentality. That's that winning recipe which you know is the intangible. That's the intangible, the anomaly that makes you great. And in Erling, I think this club now, we have an unbelievable, unbelievable player.”
On the World Cup and Julian Alvarez
“Listen I think for our club to have that number of players playing in the World Cup I think is a source of pride I think for the whole organisation, and they represented us well – all of them. I think all of them who went to the World Cup had great performances. And then you have of course, we have our World Cup winner in Alvarez and Alvarez again, another amazing young man. He comes in and if you look at what he's achieved in this club already, but beyond that, what he's achieved professionally over the last twelve months, it's extraordinary. It's extraordinary. But again, humble, humble, hard worker, wants to constantly improve. And that's the mentality that you want in a young champion.”
On Ilkay Gundogan
“Listen, Ilkay has been tremendous, absolutely tremendous. He is, as our captain, to be the captain of this club in this historic Treble - lifting the Premier League first, then the FA Cup and then last night, the Champions League, he will go down in the folklore of Manchester City forever. He has been the first signing of Pep [Guardiola] to Manchester City, he started off, I remember him when he came in always – I know he's a captain, he is a captain, and he's a representation of this club in terms of hard work, commitment always, humbleness, winning mentality. And when you need him, when you need him in the big games, he's always there. And I hope there's more chapters to that legacy. Obviously, Ilkay has to make big life decisions for him. But in the end, it’s fully understandable, we always have to respect our players, their wishes.”
On operating with a small first-team squad
“We have a high-quality small squad. But it's not what I think is the perception, which is that we operate with a huge squad - that is not the case. And that's also something that we've been pretty consistent on over the last couple of years. I think our manager prefers to work with a smaller group and I think here it's important to note and thank, I talk about unheralded heroes, our medical team - our medical team and physios. They have been phenomenal, and they are such a critical component to the success and to your question in terms of the size of the squad.
"We came into the Champions League final yesterday with a fully-fit squad and if you look at it in a year where there's the World Cup, in a year when we were competing in every single competition with a relatively small squad, if you look at almost every important game, we arrived almost with a fully-fit squad. The psychology of the team of accepting that a rotation policy and accepting this is not a fixed starting eleven. This is a group and this group and this squad, this small squad does it all together and everybody has a role to play.”
On whether this success can get any better
“It does. I can see how it does get better. It always can get better. I think we are in an incredible place, and I am deeply humbled on behalf of everyone associated with this club of what's been achieved.”
On the Premier League charges
“So obviously I can’t talk about them unfortunately for legal reasons. And what I would typically always do is comment after, so I think we’re going to go through, we’re going through the legal process. These are proceedings that take whatever time they take and when we’re done, we’ll have a conversation. I’ll give you my very blunt views, I promise you that. I have very strong views on that, but I am going to be unfortunately very restrained today.”
On how the club has been characterised after the charges
"It’s very frustrating because it takes so much from the great work that’s happening at this club and it’s happening not just on the football pitch. The football pitch – we talked about that, what these players have achieved this year, the Treble, is incredible. I hope people focus and judge them for their football and what they’re achieving on the pitch and what they’re achieving in every competition they’re in. That’s the reality. The club as a whole is well run, is very well run.
"Today, the value of this group is over six billion dollars. We’ve created so much value – we’ve brought in world-class investors. Why? Because we have a commercial machine here that is one of the best in the world. Our executives are being targeted by the best teams in the world – always. By the way – it’s a credit to us. I respect that. People appreciate that we are producing – not just the best talent on the pitch, not just the best talent in the academy, not just the best talent in the group, but we’re producing some of the best executives in the world, some of the best scouts in the world, some of the best sporting staff in the world. And that’s a testament to the great work that this group is doing.
"We’re the number one football brand in the world. These are the facts; these are the facts. The club generates a tremendous revenue. You look at our sales in terms of what we produce, in terms of from our academy, from our first team. Look at last year, I mean look at our net spend figures. We can go on for half-an-hour right now with me just giving you data in terms of net spend over the last season, net spend over the last three years, over the last five years, over the last ten years – look at every single one of them and just look at these as the facts and compare us to our competition and then people will throw at us ‘the biggest spenders’, ‘you have the biggest squad’. I wish people can just pause and ask the question and get the facts and then comment.”
On the future
“Of course, we have so much more to achieve, and the challenge continues, and the journey continues and hopefully next year we'll be able to produce another special year.”
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