Before I joined the club, Pep was already an inspiration for me. To become his player and after 9 years end up being the one with most games played under him is truly an honour. He arrived at Man City, and the Premier League couldn’t be dominated playing his way… Well, they were wrong. Not only he dominated, he changed the game in England as he did in other countries before. The hunger and ambition to want more and more even after winning and winning again was a big inspiration. For me personally, he was and will always be my father of football. A lot of the things that many managers in the past thought were weaknesses of my game, he saw it as strengths and understood me from day one. On a personal level, the kindness, trust and respect that we had for each other makes me the proudest and goes beyond football. I couldn’t be more grateful for what he did for me and my family. Thank you for all the memories and experiences to the greatest manager ever Pep Guardiola! 😄
Our final XI of the Pep era 🩵
XI | Trafford, Lewis, Stones, Dias, Ake, Nico, Bernardo (C), Reijnders, Foden, Savinho, Semenyo
SUBS | Bettinelli, Marmoush, Kovacic, Cherki, Doku, Ait-Nouri, Gvardiol, Nunes, Alleyne
🤝 @etihad
🚨💙 Pep Guardiola will take up a role as a Global Ambassador for the City Football Group.
He will give technical advice to the clubs in the group, working on specific projects and collaborations.
BREAKING: Despite his departure as Manager of #ManCity, Pep Guardiola will take up a role as a Global Ambassador for the City Football Group giving technical advice to the clubs in the group, working on specific projects and collaborations, @ManCity have announced.
💙👋🏼 Pep Guardiola: “Don’t ask me the reasons I’m leaving. There is no reason, but deep inside, I know it’s my time”.
“Nothing is eternal, if it was, I would be here. Eternal will be the feeling, the people, the memories, the love I have for my Manchester City”.
UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer: "It would be remiss of me not to comment on one of Manchester's great heroes moving on after almost a decade. So let me congratulate Pep Guardiola on all his success at Manchester City..." [via @SkySportsPL]
🏆👏🏼 Pep Guardiola: “Congratulations Arsenal, Mikel Arteta, his staff, backroom staff, all the players, fans for this Premier League…
…they deserve it!”. ✨
🚨BREAKING:
According to my sources from @TheAthleticFC, Enzo Maresca would prefer to KEEP James Trafford at @ManCity next season.
He sees the English international as a potential starter, wanting a keeper who can ‘play with his feet’, amongst other things.
James Trafford’s story in Manchester isn’t over yet.
#MCFC
John Stones: “The central defenders I’m leaving, like all the squad, are superstars. They all have their superpowers. [Abdukodir] Khusa, for instance, came without much of the language, young, a debut that was tricky, and so good since! He’s grown and flourished. His speed and awareness across the back four is incredible. I look forward to seeing that continued growth.
“I suppose Bernardo [Silva] and me going at the same time is the end of an era. It’s nice to leave with Bernardo; we’ve done this journey together and it’s fitting we can say goodbye together. It also helps keep me out of the limelight!"
Read the full interview with @baileymcfc here ➡️ https://t.co/wyxL829p1X
A couple of years ago during a lean time on and off the field, Phil Foden answered a knock on his door to find Guardiola standing there unannounced. The men hugged and went inside where just about everything apart from football was discussed for an hour.
This instinctive but deep emotional intelligence extends to club staff, too. Guardiola sends notes of support to the women’s team staff while in his office hangs a list of birthdays of all first-team employees. The rule is they bring the cake for celebration but a fuss is then made. Birthday wishes are beamed on screens around the CFA and a bottle of champagne may be presented.
At least two wider City staff members have been given extended compassionate leave for family reasons, at Guardiola’s request, while he took it upon himself to persuade club bosses all staff should be paid in full during the Covid pandemic, as many Premier League rivals leant into the Government’s furlough scheme. On another occasion Guardiola went to war with Omar Berrada over employee bonuses.
Guardiola walked into one tense meeting and told Berrada he was paying employees £10,000 each from his own bonus as a Premier League title win pot. In no uncertain terms, Berrada was urged by his manager to sort out the rest – and quickly. Staff in that exchange gawped in amazement. Berrada, in his defence, had rightly been worried about tax implications of gifts.
Source: "The truth is he will do anything for anybody on the [team] plane. There are those who leave the club and make sure they say they owe him everything."
This is an extract from Part One of @Jack_Gaughan's 'PEP AND MAN CITY, THE UNTOLD DECADE'. Read in full on @MailSport. ⤵️
https://t.co/80vsCHFLnH
🚨 BREAKING: José Mourinho back to Real Madrid, HERE WE GO! 💣🤍
All terms have been verbally agreed between José Mourinho and Real Madrid, waiting to sign all documents.
Plan for initial two year deal, JM to travel to Madrid after Real-Bilbao game.
The Special One is back.