Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola on Ilkay Gundogen's Man City return and Ipswich
23/08/2024
CGA, Manchester City Academy, Manchester, UK
23/08/2024
CGA, Manchester City Academy, Manchester, UK
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SportsTranscript
00:00Good afternoon, guys, I hope you're well.
00:09We'll set an embargo partway through at 10.30 this evening.
00:14You want to start, please?
00:15Right.
00:16Afternoon, Pep, I think you know where we're going to start, the return of Ilkay Gundogan,
00:23how happy are you that he's back?
00:25Yeah, a lot.
00:29Most of the times, all the managers, we say that finish the transfer window, everything
00:33can happen.
00:34This is the real proof.
00:37He was completely surprised and expected.
00:41You know it happened.
00:43We know him quite well, me personally, but the staff and the players and everyone.
00:52The quality that he played last season in Barcelona, he played at a high, high level
00:57in consistency, playing a lot of minutes, games, and producing a lot.
01:03We didn't have any doubts, the possibility was open, and absolutely delighted that he's
01:09back.
01:10I was going to say, was it a no-brainer when Chiqui put the idea to you that Gundogan could
01:15return, was it an easy yes from you?
01:18Yeah.
01:19Is his role going to change this time?
01:21Now he's a year older, or you've found a solution in your squad without him?
01:26Of course he's not a teenager anymore, but the reason why we decided that the chance
01:33to do it is for the level he played last season.
01:38So in his season, last season, he was not playing the level that we expect he's going
01:44to deliver.
01:47Maybe you have to think about it, but even the Euros, playing with the national team,
01:54he played really, really good as well.
01:59He knows what we want to do, he doesn't need to adapt.
02:03He knows the city, he knows the club, the maids, and the way we want to play, so we'll
02:08be immediately settled, I guess, good, and that's why we could do it and we did it.
02:18Have the players voted for their leadership group yet, because Ilkay was captain, so would
02:23you expect him to be back in that five?
02:25No, no, I don't know, I don't know.
02:32Hi Pep, Ilkay said in his interview on his return just how important your role as his
02:39manager was, he was obviously so successful here, he said you're one of the best managers,
02:45if not the best manager in the world.
02:47How does that make you feel when a player returns to the club and speaks so highly of
02:51you?
02:52Yeah, I appreciate it, but the important thing is that he wants to come back, so Chiqui got
03:03the message from Chiqui, he said, Ilkay, I want to talk to you, I want to call you, OK?
03:08So he called me and asked me the situation I was in, so if there's a chance to come back,
03:15if you would like it, then we said yes, immediately.
03:19So this is the most important thing.
03:20Now we are here and he has to deliver a good season, a good two seasons here, this is now
03:25what you have to work with.
03:28He has the feeling he doesn't come to retire or doesn't come here to remember good memories
03:35that we had.
03:36We have time to have good memories in the future, but now it's time to, you know, shoes
03:40on and play your best.
03:43Forty-four games at home, unbeaten, such a good mood after, obviously, the first win
03:48and then also the re-signing of Gundogan, how excited are you for this first home game
03:52of the season?
03:53It's switched on, that's the only thing I'm concerned about.
03:58Two teams have been promoted to the Premier League, with the same manager, with clear
04:03patterns, it was the team in the first game of the season for all the Premier League,
04:11the most intense team, you know, that's the only thing I'm concerned about right now.
04:15I know and understand that Ilkay is a highlight today, but since I stand up for this room,
04:22it's switched on, that's the only thing I'm concerned about.
04:25Talking to some of the other players, Savino picked up a slight knock and knee injury during
04:30his debut, he was back training in midweek, where is he with his recovery and will we
04:34expect to see him on Saturday?
04:36Savino?
04:37Savino.
04:38Yeah, he feels better, I don't think he's completely, completely top, but yeah, I met
04:44part of the trainees and he's developing really well, we'll see today, tomorrow, what we're
04:52going to do with him.
04:54Hi, Pep, one of Ilkay's quotes, he said that the package that Man City offers nowadays,
05:00you can't find anywhere else, does it surprise you to hear that?
05:04It's a privilege for all of us, yeah, it's an honour, you know this word, because the
05:11package means the city, means the club, the club means everyone, staff, these buildings
05:18and commercials and everything, so I've said many times, so the club has been run from
05:26Ferran and for all the people, amazingly, and you know, so me as a manager, I think
05:32the players, so they have everything what they need to perform as much, as high as level
05:40as possible, this is what the biggest clubs define, the titles of course, but how we behave
05:45daily, day by day, in all the structure, and there are a lot of people working behind us,
05:52the manager and especially the players, and that's why it's a comfortable place to be.
05:57Something that you have said many times, how comfortable the place is to work, but it's
06:01different when someone goes to a club like Barcelona, comes back feeling the same thing,
06:05so you can see that out there, it is different.
06:07I spoke a little bit with Ilkay, and he had incredible words about Barcelona, about his
06:14experience there, for the city, for the people who were there, and for the players, speak
06:21so highly about his experience there, and about the situation, everybody knows in Barcelona
06:28and it happened, it wasn't expected, so I didn't call, we didn't call, I said, oh, I
06:33could not expect, because he played really well last season, still, I know how competitive
06:38he is, how he drives his mates to his best, and what happened, I said, yeah, you know,
06:46I love midfield players, I love his qualities, he gives us incredible alternatives in the
06:52way we want to play, he adapts in two, three roles perfectly, he knows everything, he doesn't
06:57need time to, how he settles, you know, if tomorrow he has to play, okay, he knows everything,
07:06so that's why it's comfortable for us, and I know his mentality is always in the right
07:11position, he doesn't come, as I said before, to, okay, let's go into the last two years
07:17here, completely different, I know he will be upset when it's not going well, he will
07:23be happy and thinking until next, until next, you know, when it's going well, so, and that's
07:28why we, he's back one person that is beloved for his mates, also so important, everyone
07:35is so thrilled and happy that he's back for our fans, I'm pretty sure of that, and, yeah,
07:42he's going to try to fight again with us.
07:44Hi Pep, it feels quite sentimental with Ilkay coming back, another one of your former players
07:51is also available, how likely or possible maybe Raheem Sterling, any chance you might
07:55want to bring him back to Manchester City as well?
07:59He's a chassis player, absolutely, a chassis player, I know, I have, I feel so attached
08:07with the time we lived together, with Raheem, and of course I feel attached with Enzo, so
08:13I just wish him all the best, but he's of course a chassis player, if you ask me this
08:17question when Gundo is in Barcelona, I will answer the same.
08:21There is one week left of the window, with Gundogan coming in it's a big reinforcement,
08:27but are there chances, or how likely is it that you'll get anyone else in do you think
08:30in the next week?
08:31I don't know, I don't think so, by the way I said before, so I don't know, it's going
08:34to happen at the end of the market, maybe happen something in terms of injuries, hopefully
08:39not, in terms of, I don't know, the market provided something unexpected that financially
08:44is good for us, or for the tactics wise as well, so right now I don't think so, but I
08:50don't know.
08:51Can I finish just by asking about Rodri, because he, I didn't see him at training in midweek,
08:56how is he, is he back with the group yet?
08:57He's getting better.
08:58Is he with the group yet?
08:59No, no, he's not with the group, maybe today with me a partial, maybe, partial training,
09:04but still he's not, he's not good.
09:07So not for the weekend?
09:09I don't think so, I don't think so, but we'll see today, now training at three, we'll see.
09:15Last one before the embargo please, Simon.
09:19Just a quick one, with Elkay, will he be involved in the squad tomorrow?
09:23Yeah, maybe, we need the paper, Alex told me, you can say it to the guy.
09:32International play?
09:33International, some paper, but if arrived in the last set, yeah, maybe will be available.