Man City dedicate training pitch to Gundogan
theathletic.com
Manchester City have dedicated a training pitch to former captain Ilkay Gundogan as a tribute to his services for the club. Gundogan, who turns 33 today, was the first City captain to lift the Champions League trophy. He also won five Premier League titles, two FA Cups and four League Cups during a seven-year spell at the Etihad. A mosaic commemorating Gundogan's winning goal in the 2021-22 Premier League title decider against Aston Villa will also be displayed near the training pitch.Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said: “On behalf of his highness Sheikh Mansour, on behalf of everyone associated with Manchester City, it is really my privilege and honour to unveil this mosaic that is a tribute to every accomplishment you’ve made as part of this Manchester City family over the years. “You have been an important leader, an important pillar of a part of history – of the history of this club that will never be forgotten. “We are all so grateful, so thankful for the great memories you gave us – as the first Manchester City captain to lift the Champions League, as a player that’s lifted five Premier Leagues, so many trophies as part of his journey with the club. “But beyond these great accomplishments as a football player, your accomplishments as a leader, both in the club and in the community is never going to be forgotten. “Today I want to thank you on behalf of everyone associated with the club and this mosaic is our gift to you to keep you part of the history of this club, of this institution, a place that you can come and always know that you have left an important stamp that will be never forgotten.”
    • DesertRL@alien.topBEnglish
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      11 months ago

      Qatar

      UAE*

      Franny Lee, Colin Bell, Mike Summerbee, Bert Trautmann, Frank Swift, Peter Doherty (though this is arguable as his city career was massively cut short by WWII, but he was still fantastic for the time he played for us), Alan Oakes, Billy Meredith, Neil Young (not that Neil Young), Eric Brook

  • Ohtar1@alien.topBEnglish
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    11 months ago

    Weird to do this to a player who is still active in Europe and you can still play against.

      • Ohtar1@alien.topBEnglish
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        11 months ago

        There a lot of things that can happen that could make him not be loved by the fans any more. He could score in a final and make them lose a trophy, he could injure your best player I don’t know

        • boi61@alien.topBEnglish
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          11 months ago

          I don’t think any of that would change what he did for City or how he is viewed by the club. I actually like that they honor their legends right after the leave the club instead of doing it 10 years later.

          • pacman1993@alien.topBEnglish
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            11 months ago

            Not sure if it was Robben or Ibra, but their first club destroyed the statue they had of him, because he bought a stake at the rival club

          • TheJoshider10@alien.topBEnglish
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            11 months ago

            Also it’s not that deep, if Gundogan did something to piss off City then they would just remove the dedication. He won’t, but it’s not a big deal if it did come to that.

  • Round-Ad5063@alien.topBEnglish
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    11 months ago

    Question for United fans, how many players from the 99 treble side are legends for you? Does half sound about right

    • sprocket999@alien.topBEnglish
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      11 months ago

      I’d say 7/8.

      I think it probably helps that they played the majority or all of their careers at United though, which is possibly the issue people may have with Gundogan here.

      • Round-Ad5063@alien.topBEnglish
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        11 months ago

        That’s a good argument. I’m looking at the squad and 7 sounds about right. How do you feel about players like Beckham or Ronaldo who spent more years abroad than at the club?

  • Xpolonia@alien.topBEnglish
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    11 months ago

    Their first CL win is a historical milestone for them and Gündoğan happened to be the captain, it makes sense to me that it has significance to City and they wanted to honor this.

    It’s also not like they renamed the Etihad to the Gündoğan stadium (I don’t mind that tho). They certainly have more than one training pitch so I don’t see the reason to overreact over this.

  • GameplayerStu@alien.topBEnglish
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    11 months ago

    I for one can’t wait for the Erling Haaland Centre for Kids Who Can’t Score Good and Who Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too.

  • Fuzzy-Topic-2684@alien.topBEnglish
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    11 months ago

    People jumping the gun here. It’s a nice tribute to begin with. For all we know, he’ll receive a bigger tribute in years to come. Napoli didn’t change the name of their stadium until Maradona died. It’s always a risk paying tribute to someone in any profession to a large scale before they’ve passed incase they do something absolutely insane like murder, sexual assault, etc. Not saying Gundogan will because he seems like a decent man but other players have.

  • Any_Smell_5431@alien.topBEnglish
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    11 months ago

    This gives me the same vibes of when Gundo got injured and his teammates had shirts on with his face like he passed on lmao

    • B-e-a-utiful_day@alien.topBEnglish
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      11 months ago

      Yeah this is the same, like… as tribute? The guy is still alive. I thought he died the first time I saw it!

    • JarodMMS@alien.topBEnglish
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      11 months ago

      I don’t get this, i don’t care about City really but you people used to moan about the club not having history, but now that it’s being written as we speak, it doesn’t count because, what, it didn’t happen 80 years ago? I’d say sticking around for a decade and captaining the team into a treble is pretty much worthy of this kind of recognizement