Khaldoon Al Mubarak Man City interview: Five things missed - Phil Foden impact, Club World Cup & more

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak recently sat down for his annual end-of-season interview with club channels and discussed a wide range of topics.

The 48-year-old’s interview took place at the weekend, just days before the revelatory report in the Times claimed City have brought an unprecedented legal case against the Premier League. But Al Mubarak did reference that the league’s spending regulations are, in his eyes, having a negative impact on its competitiveness.

The City chief also spoke about Pep Guardiola’s future with the Catalan set to enter the final year of his contract, amid reports that he could walk away upon its expiry. There were several other topics discussed by Al Mubarak that may have flown under the radar, and we’ve summarised those below from that 20-minute interview…

2023/24 season:

“Let’s be clear, we didn’t lose a single game in the Champions League. No team actually beat us in 90 minutes or 120 minutes. We lost on penalty kicks. Penalty kicks, winner or loser, it’s a flip of a coin at the end of the day. So, we gave it an incredible shot, we got to the quarter-finals, we played against our rival, the most decorated team in European club history. But there’s always a silver lining, that gives us more hunger, more tenacity. You can see today that I’m delighted. Everybody feels obviously proud and delighted with what we have achieved this year.”

Phil Foden:

“A nice story about Phil, the day before the West Ham game, I was attending practice, the last training before the game. And practice had finished, I was chatting with someone, all the players left towards the dressing room, but there was one player that was still on the pitch, taking shot after shot after shot and he was at the 18-yard line, the central point of the 18-yard line and he was taking shots at the target, alone, nobody left. So, I walked towards him, he made one brilliant shot to the top corner, and I remember, I spoke to him, I said, ‘Phil, wonderful, but keep that for tomorrow!’ And sure enough, next day, three minutes into the game, he does exactly that shot. Exactly that shot. And I think there’s a lot of lessons in this about that love and commitment and craft that Phil has towards the game and how really, even at that level, last game of the season, he was still out there and then the next day, how practice makes perfect.”

Rodri:

“He’s had the record streak for a team unbeaten in European football history. I mean that’s extraordinary. I think only the two AC Milan players, [Paolo] Maldini and [Demetrio] Albertini, were one game behind. So that level of and standard of excellence is extraordinary. He’s extraordinary. The position he plays, it’s not a glamorous position, but he is absolutely fundamental to this team and one of the most critical reasons why we continue to win and succeed and continue to achieve what we are achieving.”

Players’ schedule:

“So, I’d like regulators to focus more on that. I think at the end of the day, my message here is, let’s focus on the mental health, let’s focus on the physical health of our players. I think that is very important rather than spending so much time on regulatory issues that are just kind of slowing down the growth of the game. To my point when I started, it felt like the last two years were almost one season, interconnected. It’s not enough time to both physically and mentally recover and it’s too much, it’s too much. And I think no doubt the international schedule of demand is just too much on these players particularly with these competitions that they continuously compete in. There’s a lot of contradictions in it. You restrict the size of the squad, you put a lot of regulatory constraint on that, but at the same time you ask the teams and the players to play more games. Something has to give.”

Expanded 2025 Club World Cup:

“It’s a great joy and, being able to compete with teams from all over the world, outside Europe, for a serious competition and then winning that trophy and now having that badge is absolutely fantastic. I’m so, so proud of it. Having it for the rest of the season, this season, having it all next season. And then the privilege now of qualifying to play in the next, new edition of the Club World Cup is a great privilege.