Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland have hailed “genius” Pep Guardiola for his role in Manchester City’s treble success.
Manager, Guardiola led City this season to a historic treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League titles, which made him the first manager to achieve two European trebles – having first achieved this feat with Barcelona in 2008-09 season.
City’s latest success however was achieved with a 68th minute winner from Rodri to beat Inter Milan in Istanbul, Turkey last night (10 June), which completed the treble.
Applauding Guardiola’s incredible feat, Grealish hailed the Catalonian as “a genius” as he proceeded to add: “I said to him ‘I want to thank you because you’ve made this happen for me’.”
Grealish joined City from Aston Villa in August 2021 and has gone on to contribute 11 goals plus 15 assists in 89 appearances.
The 27 year-old went on to praise Guardiola for his support even despite his dips in form, as he said: “He signed me for a lot of money and even when I was playing bad, he stayed there with me.
“This year he has given me the platform to play and perform and I just said ‘thank you’ to him.”
On what it meant to be part of a treble winning squad, Grealish added: “This is just what you work your whole life for. I’m so happy.
“To win a treble with these players is so special.
“Everyone who knows me knows how much I’m a family person and how much I love football.
“Thanks to all the people who have helped me along the way. I just saw my family in the crowd and it makes me emotional.”
Haaland Hails “special” Guardiola
Haaland meanwhile joined the club in June 2022 and has gone on to enjoy a stunning debut season in English Football, with Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League titles plus 52 goals in a historic campaign for the Norwegian.
Reflecting upon his performance in the Final, Haaland paid tribute to Guardiola as he commented: “It’s such a big game, the pressure is unbelievable, you all know that. To work with Pep is really special.
“We have a good relationship and he’s helped me a lot.”
Haaland added that at 22 years-old, he is eager to be “developing even more” under Guardiola as a “young” player with “lot of years left” in his career, as he added: “To be getting trained by him every day, the best coach in the world, it’s a good place to be.”
On what it meant to achieve the treble under Guardiola in his first season at City, Haaland described the achievement as “unbelievable”, as he continued: “In my wildest dreams I would never think of this as a 22-year-old me to be honest.
“But it shows that it’s possible for a guy from a small town in Norway.”
Haaland also iterated that his achievement can serve as inspiration for younger generations in Bryne, Norway, as he said: “This also gives, I think, motivation to other young people in my same kind of situation playing football in the indoor hall in my hometown.”
Looking ahead to next season, Haaland stated that City must forget about their success of this season in order to “defend what we achieved this season.”
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