City want ‘quadruple’ next season, says Mubarak
Chairman throws down gauntlet for Guardiola ‘Next year is going to be incredible for us’
Khaldoon Al Mubarak has piled the pressure on Pep Guardiola by predicting Manchester City will have an “incredible” next season, as the chairman revealed how the club’s owners were driven by a desire to become the first English side to win “the quadruple”.
Guardiola’s first season in the Premier League ended in disappointment, with City finishing 15 points behind champions Chelsea and failing to win a trophy.
City have reacted by signing Portugal playmaker Bernardo Silva from Monaco for £43.6million, as well as agreeing a £34.7million deal with Benfica for goalkeeper Ederson Moraes, a deal that is awaiting ratification by the Football Association, who must be satisfied that third-party ownership issues from the transfer have been resolved.
Guardiola is expected to make at least four more signings this summer, and Al Mubarak, in a bold declaration about City’s lofty ambitions under owner Sheikh Mansour, said they were motivated by a belief the club could achieve a clean sweep of Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League.
Manchester United are the only English club to win the treble of league title, FA Cup and Champions League, but Al Mubarak hopes City can go one step further, even if there was recognition of how difficult it would be to pull off such an unprecedented feat. “It excites me trying to win the Champions
Time to deliver: City manager Pep Guardiola will be expected to win a trophy next season League,” Al Mubarak told City’s official website. “That dream excites me every day, and knowing we can do it. The dream of doing the treble, yes. You mentioned the double, no I want to do the treble, or else let’s go for the quadruple! Why not? We should have that aspiration. I have it, no doubt. Sheikh Mansour drives me for it every day, but you look at the organisation, you see it in Pep’s eyes, in everybody within our group.
“Pep wants to win it all and that’s what I love most about him, because that’s how I feel – we want to win it all. We might not be able to achieve it, but I can assure you, we’re going to try to do that.”
Guardiola failed to meet high expectations over the past season, but that has done little to deter Al Mubarak from talking up City’s prospects. “Next year is going to be a massive year for us. Expectations are high, ambitions are high. I have a lot of hope that we’re going to come back next season very strong, and I hope we can deliver to our fans an incredible season.”
City have had a poor record of academy graduates establishing themselves in the first XI since the Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008, and Guardiola has claimed opportunities are likely to be limited for the youngsters again next season.
But Al Mubarak has backed academy prospects Jadon Sancho, Phil Foden and Brahim Diaz to become first team players at City, and wants to see at least one youngster successfully graduating to the senior side every year. “You look at Sancho, you look at Phil Foden, you look at Brahim Diaz. These are players who have a very good chance of making it to the first team.”
City have accepted a £12.2 million bid from Villarreal for Turkey striker Enes Unal, whom they bought from Bursaspor for just £2.1 million in 2015.