Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said it would be impossible for him to take charge of another English club and he will be “a Mancunian” for the rest of his life.
Guardiola said he feels loved by the City fans after last season’s record-breaking title campaign and is determined to entertain them in style.
“Statistics and numbers are nice, but numbers are not a passion,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“It does not give you something. It is better to say after 10 years I remember this final and how well we played, to remember the way we have done it.
“Titles are important, of course, and they have helped me have jobs and to keep working on my passion.
“But I think all the managers, we are happy with our old players when we can laugh and hug and have a good relation. Everyone loves to be loved, it is the secret of our lives.
“I will be Mancunian for the rest of my life. I will be a Manchester City fan and it will be impossible to train another team like Manchester City in England, because I feel love from the people here.”
Guardiola said he had a special relationship with Manchester after members of his family were caught up in the Manchester Arena terror attack last year, in which 22 people were killed.
His wife Cristina Serra and daughters, Valentina and Maria, were at an Ariana Grande concert when a bomb exploded in the venue.
“When the attack happened, I was at home with my son, and my wife and daughters were there — they were at the Arena,” he said.
“She called me but the line broke immediately. She told me: ‘Something happened and we are running but I don’t know what happened,’ and the line broke.
“We tried to call her again and it didn’t work. We went to the Arena, and after five or six minutes she rang again and said: ‘We are out, we’re coming back home.’
“At the end, we were lucky. Many people suffered, and we were lucky. Life is like this. We were in a better position than many unfortunate ones.”
Guardiola also spoke about some of his favourite music and selected “Don’t Look Back In Anger” by City fans Oasis, which he said his players sing.
“I love this song, you cannot imagine how much,” he said. “It is incredible. “It’s a masterpiece. Every time we go out we always sing this song all together. We love it.
“I like that, after what happened in Manchester at the Arena, now it is a song for the people. Like in the video when everyone is in silence and one woman starts to sing the song and everybody sings, that is a moment. It was so touching for my family and for myself.”
Be the first to comment