Manchester City are determined to build on their incredible success next season and shake up their Treble winning squad.
Rodri has challenged Manchester City to become the Champions League’s next dominant force by building a dynasty fuelled by their near-£300 million Treble windfall.
City have pocketed a whopping £294 million in prize money after Saturday’s 1-0 win Inter Milan at the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul saw the club win that elusive first European Cup to seal an extraordinary Treble.
And City’s matchwinner against Inter believes the triumph could open the door for the club to monopolise the Champions League in the way Real Madrid and Barcelona have done over the past two decades.
Real won five European Cups in the previous nine seasons and Barcelona lifted the trophy on four occasions over a 10-year period to 2015, with Rodri hoping City – who have been in two finals and a semi-final in three years – can now launch their own era of serial success.
Asked if he could see Istanbul proving a springboard to even bigger things, the City midfielder said: “Yes. For me, and I said this before the game, it was so important to win against Inter because we can build a legacy for the future.
We can trust in ourselves that we did it and this is what teams like Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, AC Milan – these kind of clubs – did in the past. So, yes, we believe we can do it again. I think that’s why it’s so important.”
Pep Guardiola echoed Rodri’s sentiments. “I don’t want after one Champions League to disappear so work harder next season and be in there,” the City manager said. “There are teams that win the Champions League and after one or two seasons disappear. This is what you have to avoid.”
The celebrations were still in full flow as City flew home from Istanbul on Sunday afternoon on a special club liveried Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The squad had partied through the night with top scorer Erling Haaland pictured smoking a cigar at 7am. City will hold a Treble parade for fans in Manchester city centre on Monday evening.
City armed with huge summer transfer budget
With City banking around £180 million for winning the Premier League, about £110 million for their Champions League success and £4 million for the FA Cup win, on top of record revenues and huge sums raised from player sales in recent seasons, Guardiola could be armed with an enormous transfer kitty this summer.
But the extent of the club’s business is likely to be heavily influenced by who leaves amid doubts over the futures of Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Aymeric Laporte and Joao Cancelo among other.
