With Manchester City facing Atalanta on Tuesday evening, the Italian sport media are talking to anyone they can find who has links with both Serie A and the Premier League side.
Step forward Ousmane Dabo, who signed for Manchester City from Lazio in 2006, before going back to the Rome club in 2008.
He’s been speaking to TMW, and when asked about his time at the English club, he replied: “It was not like today, in my time. It was a normal mid-table team, there was not all this money to have a great team. City has so many fans, it is said to be the Manchester team, it is the one with the most supporters. Man United is a more global team.”
When asked if that means Manchester United and City are like Juventus and Torino, Dabo replied: “Exactly. The City stadium is always full.”
Asked what he remembers about Manchester as a city, the Frenchman said: “A pretty city, which was developing. I haven’t been there in a long time, I don’t know how it is now, it’s beautiful to live. There was already a good structure, the stadium was that: now they have renovated it, before it was 45,000 seats. The sports centre was already very good.”
Pep Guardiola has insisted his team shouldn’t be expected to win the Champions League this season, however, Dabo believes it will be a failure for the manager if Manchester City come up short again in the competition: “Yes, he’s been there for years now, every time he has been eliminated. They have already won the Premier League, more than once, only the Champions League is missing. The fans expect it because the team plays very well.”
Manchester City are doing well so far in the competition, with two wins from two matches. They’ll hope to keep up the run against Atalanta this week.
