It’s the term Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has used to describe Pep Guardiola’s desire for success, the one former Premier League midfielder Leon Osman labelled City’s 2017/18 achievements as and it’s also the quality Vincent Kompany hopes his side continue to portray for years to come.
Unsurprisingly, many news outlets carry quotes from our exclusive interview with our Chairman, part one of which you can watch below with part two on its way this evening. As always, it’s a must-watch.
Meanwhile, speaking to ESPN, captain Kompany has echoed his Chairman’s sentiments, declaring Guardiola has ‘laid the foundation’ for further success.
“He’s quite intense,” the defender stated. “He’s extremely good at communicating what he wants from his players. And you know, some of the things he says are quite complex, but he makes it simple for everyone to understand.
“And with intensity like I said, every single day, whether it’s training or a game, it’s about winning and about getting better. He has the right group of players together to take it a step further than he even wants next season.
“We have a lot of young guys who are hungry in the team. Many of them just won their first trophy. But at the same time, it’s only their first. With the ability and the talent, we can win a lot more - and that gives me much confidence they’ll be able to pick it up again next season.
“It goes back to the same thing: hard work. We’ve put in so much effort on the pitch and off. We were committed and had a clear vision of what we wanted to accomplish and where we wanted to go. And then sometimes things come together like they did [this] season. It’s a record-breaking season, so it’s history for us as well.”
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As mentioned, former Everton man Osman has also shared his thoughts on the Blues’ record-breaking campaign.
He told the Premier League’s official website: “Man City were outstanding.
“They were relentless in their pursuit of winning.”
Switching topic, two-goal heroine a comfortable 3-0 victory over Everton.
Nick Cushing’s side completed the season in second spot – one point ahead of Arsenal – but were unable to repeat the trophy successes of recent years and the England midfielder spoke of her side’s determination to retain silverware next season.
“It was just all about the result,” she told the FA WSL after the game. “It would have been devastating to not get that Champions League spot and I think overall it’s deserved for us for the effort we’ve put in.
“We’re disappointed not to win the league and not make it a more exciting end to the season but fair play to Chelsea because they were better over the course of the season.”
Reflecting on her own performance and her first goal – an absolute rocket – she added: “It’s always a part of my game I want to improve and I’ll look at that in the summer but I don’t think I’ll score another one like that. I took a few touches and thought I better make something of this or there will be a few people shouting at me!
“It was really important to get over the line. The past few weeks have been hard and I won’t shy away from the fact I’ve been a bit moody to be around the last few weeks. Losing hurts, it really does and it will be our driving force for the new season.”
In other news, the rumours regarding Eden Hazard continue to swirl with the Daily Star claiming the Belgian is Guardiola’s top transfer target.
According to Jeremy Cross: “Pep Guardiola is plotting a stunning £100m swoop for Eden Hazard. The Manchester City boss has made the Chelsea ace his No.1 transfer target this summer and is confident of luring him to the Etihad.
“But he will need to break the British transfer record and hand Hazard a deal worth £300,000-a-week.
“Hazard has two years left on his Blues contract and has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid with Paris St-Germain also in the hunt.
“But former Barcelona boss Guardiola wants to beat his old rivals to land Hazard and pull off what would undoubtedly be one of the signings of the summer.
“Hazard, 27, has refused to pledge his long-term future to the Blues after a largely frustrating season at Stamford Bridge.
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“And he is aware of Guardiola’s strong interest in him.
“Guardiola is desperate to exploit the uncertain situation surrounding Hazard’s future and knows the Blues could be left with no choice but to cash in on their prize asset instead of allowing his contract to run towards its final 12 months.
“Guardiola has no intention of making wholesale signings this summer and has told club bosses he wants two world class players instead.
“Hazard is one of those, with Guardiola viewing him as the long-term replacement for David Silva.”
There’s also another tale of transfer gossip as the Plymouth Herald report City are set to face ‘stiff competition’ for the signature of Matthijs de Ligt.
Writes Jak Ball: “Tottenham are another side interested in adding the centre-back to their squad for the 2018/19 campaign.
“It is believed that Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino had a bid accepted by Ajax for the Dutchman, but City have since outbid them.
“Spurs’ bid was around €55m but City have now offered €60m to try and win the race to his signature.”
