Pep Guardiola was officially unveiled today in front of the Etihad crowd as he addressed a huge gathering. The Spaniard decided to sign on as the manager in January itself before he had run down his contract at Bayern Munich.
There is new hope among Manchester City fans that Guardiola will take the club to new heights. The club have already signed Nolito from Celta Vigo and Ilkay Gundogan from Borussia Dortmund.
Pep will be aiming to sign more players but today he talked for the first time to his fans. Guardiola expressed his excitement of being in Manchester and his eagerness to get started. “Thank you for coming here. I'm so, so glad to be here and thank you Manchester City to give me this opportunity. I am pretty sure we are going to enjoy it.”
Guardiola comes in with a lot of reputation having won so much in his relatively short managerial career. The Spaniard spoke about his plans for the club.
'It is a challenge, that is why I am here. I prove myself where I was born, in Barcelona and then in Germany and now, with the amazing players and staff City has. Every game, every weekend, the fans can be proud and in the end, what I want is that the people and supporters can enjoy and be proud of what we did.”
“We need our fans, I can not do that alone. I need the players, the staff and our fans. Without that, it is impossible.”
Some of the Manchester City players were also present along with the manager at the unveiling. Youngster Kelechi Iheanacho and Ilkay Gundogan were two of those who made their presence felt.
Pep also spoke about the importance of players and managers’ relationship in the Premier League. “The most important thing in football, people don't come to see how good the manager is. There is Jose, Jurgen Klopp, Ronald Koeman, Antonio Conte, Pochettino. The reason we are here is to help the players.”
The most important message he gave and something the fans wanted to hear was what he expected from his players. “First, I have to meet my players. I have to know them. I know them from tv but I have to speak them. Hug them, kick their a**! I need time, I have an idea...”
