Manchester City stand-in captain Kyle Walker says the team have a long way to go before they can be compared to Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson and Liverpool in the 1980s.
City will make history on Friday if they can beat Fluminense in the Club World Cup final in Jeddah, becoming the first English side to ever win five major trophies in a calendar year.
But despite winning the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup last season, replicating United’s feat in 1998/99, Walker says City still have a way to go before people will look back and consider them as good as those teams of yesteryear.
“I don’t think we’ll be looked at differently for a good couple of years,” Walker said ahead of Friday’s game.
“To go and achieve what the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United did…they did it year in, year out for a number of years.
“So to be considered the best club in the world is obviously a great achievement but the lads know that we’re just starting the building blocks for this club. Hopefully we’re starting a new generation.”
City are bidding to win a fourth successive Premier League title under Pep Guardiola and a sixth in seven years, but their 2023/24 campaign hasn’t been as plain sailing as they would have liked. They have dropped points in seven games this season – including a run of one win in their last six – and lie fourth in the table behind Arsenal, Liverpool and surprise package Aston Villa.
And Walker pointed out that City‘s achievements, as good as they are, still pale in comparison to what United achieved under Ferguson for the best part of 20 years.
“To go and do it like your Manchester Uniteds with your Ryan Giggs’ that have won 13 league titles,” he continued.
“We take great pride in what we’ve done but for me, and we’ve won five in six years, to be recognised as one of the top clubs in the world we have to do it for a little bit longer.”
United have failed to win a Premier League title since Ferguson retired from the game in 2012, cycling through a raft of managers in a bid to return to their former glory. City, meanwhile, have won six titles – Manuel Pellegrini’s success in 2013/14 followed up by five trophy lifts for Guardiola.
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