Why do Ilkai Gundogan, Carlos Tevez and a few other foreign players who play at Manchester City hate living in Manchester?
Foreign star players who have played or are currently playing for Manchester City
About Manchester:
It is the world's earliest industrialized city, an important transportation hub and commercial, financial, industrial and cultural center of the United Kingdom, and an international metropolis. Manchester has developed new industries and become an international city with more than 700 industries including heavy machinery, weaving, oil refining, glass, plastics and food processing, centred on electronics, chemicals and printing. As a pioneer of free trade, economic liberalisation and co-operation movements, the City of Manchester has a strong influence on the British economy.
Manchester is united with the towns of Trafford, Tamside, Salford and Stockport to form the Manchester Region. From an industrial city to a bustling city that never sleeps featuring finance, education, tourism, commerce and manufacturing, Manchester is England's main industrial center, commodity distribution center and financial center city, and one of England's eight core cities.
Sometimes, the biggest obstacle to convincing players to sign for Manchester City or Manchester United and stay there is the city itself
Brazilian right-back Daniel Alves is ready to join Manchester City in the summer of 2017. He is delighted to join forces again with Pep Guardiola, who has conquered the world at Barcelona and has even just had lunch with the Catalan coach to start planning the upcoming season at the Etihad Stadium.
The Brazilian also persuaded Juventus to terminate his contract early in order to reunite. Everything is ready. But then, to the shock of Manchester City and the anger of Pep Guardiola, Alves withdrew from the transfer and joined Paris Saint-Germain instead.
Cause? Alves' wife at the time, Joanna Sans, did not want to live in Manchester. For some reason, Alves had just married a few days before the U-turn in the picturesque island of Formentera, and for some reason the Spanish model preferred the city of love to the oasis and home of the Smiths.
Although Manchester has undergone a huge transformation in recent years and is already comparable to New York in terms of high-rises, it still lags behind Madrid, Barcelona, Milan and Paris in terms of attractive places to live for footballers.
Sans, who broke up with Alves this year after he was temporarily imprisoned and accused of sexual assault, is not the only footballer's partner who doesn't have a passion for the city.
Angel Di Maria, Carlos Tevez and Nolito were the most vocal in their criticism of Manchester, while Ilkai Gundogan left Manchester City for Barcelona for the main reason for wanting to change the environment and move to a warmer place. It's also a big factor in Bernardo Silva's desire to leave Manchester City this summer.
With the transfer window in full swing, there are many changes on the horizon for both Manchester clubs, but let's take a look at why some foreign players don't like life in the city?
Haaland and Grealish
Avoiding clubs because of a city is a mistake
A source helping players adjust to their new club told the media that Manchester City and Manchester United are among the biggest and most successful teams in the world, meaning the appeal of playing for them outweighs any concerns about the player's life in Manchester.
"I don't think there's a player who doesn't want to go to Manchester City or Manchester United, they're such a big club, they don't care about that, the club is more important than the city for the career development of the player," he said.
"I wouldn't say you'll be shaken by a city in the prime of your career. Both clubs are among the top five in the world and it would be a mistake not to go there because of the city itself.
"All the players want to go to the Premier League, it's the best league in the world and there's a reason for that. I don't think that's a deciding factor, a city can be good or bad, the players mostly stay at home because of the demands of their daily lives, they mostly focus on playing football. ”。
"If you ask Haaland or Grealish, they'll be happy, they just won the treble. I don't think the city is too big a factor for young players. ”
Gundogan shows off his Barça shirt
"You can't compare Manchester to Barcelona"
But for people like Alves and Di Maria, who are already global stars and Champions League champions, off-field factors are more important. The same goes for Gundogan, who spent seven years at Manchester City and after winning the treble as captain, he achieved everything possible at the club.
The source added: "It depends on the stage of your career. If you're young and just starting your career, no one will refuse to go there for that reason. ”。“ But Gundogan has won everything, so he wants a new challenge, and he's been in Manchester for seven years, so why should he continue to stay in places with grey skies, for example, where he can't eat good sushi? ”？
"The city certainly helps convince the players that you can't compare Manchester to a place like Barcelona, where there is perfect food, all day sun, and beaches. Anyone in the world wants to live there. Where do people go on vacation? Go to Barcelona. No other city in the UK offers you so much. ”。
Gundogan with his wife
The lack of food is a common complaint among players' partners
Manchester's lack of food is a common complaint among player partners. Di Maria's wife described the local food as "disgusting", while David De Gea's girlfriend Adulne Garcia, who chose not to live full-time in Manchester when he moved to Manchester United in 2011, says you have to look for the best restaurants and even then they have not chosen to live in Manchester full-time. The food there is obviously not as good as in Spain.
Gundogan's wife, Sara Arfaoui, made headlines last year for complaining about a shortage of quality restaurants. "I went out of my way to find a good restaurant, but there was horrible food everywhere," she said. "Maybe in London, but in Manchester nothing. I'm sorry. ”
Even so, Manchester's culinary reputation has been steadily improving, with Lonely Planet named the UK's number one tourist city in 2023. Two years ago, it was voted the third best city in the world by Time Out, behind only San Francisco and Amsterdam.
Guardiola helped found TAST downtown, a high-end Catalan restaurant and many other top Spanish restaurants in town. Guardiola likes to go to Japanese restaurant Musu, while Ellin Haaland, in addition to grilling his own steak at Manchester City's Premier League title party, also likes to go to Indian street food restaurant Dishoom and Italian restaurant San Carlo.
Chinese restaurant Wings has long been popular with players and managers, and is Louis van Gaal's favourite place to visit during his two years as Manchester United manager. Another popular restaurant is Zouk Tea Bar and Grill, where Manchester United players can often be seen, and pop stars Rihanna and Drake have also dined.
Nolito, a Spanish winger who played for Manchester City
Nolito and lack of sunlight
Manchester's grey skies and torrential rain became the laughing stock of many jokes. However, it is only the 16th wettest city in Europe. Milan, Munich and Lyon all have more rain, although few mention the weather as the reason why players will not join AC Milan, Inter Milan, Lyon or Bayern Munich.
Former Manchester City winger Nolitto made headlines for claiming that a lack of sunshine in Manchester had caused her daughter's skin to discolour, and she looked like she was "living in a cave". One doctor even suggested he give her vitamin D tablets.
Nolito joined Manchester City from Spain's wettest city, Celtawigo, has an average daily rainfall of 5.8mm compared to 3.2mm in Manchester, so he should have been able to cope with it. But he had a hard time coping with the short days of winter.
He told the Guardian: "We would have lunch together, have dinner at home and then go for a cup of coffee, but it didn't work. If it's dark at 5 p.m., then by 6 p.m., it's like 10 o'clock and you're even starting to get tired. You think, 'Damn, it's only 6 o'clock!' ’”
Former Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero
Aguero's lonely existence
Nolito did not adjust well to life in Manchester, although he only had a year to adjust before returning to Spain to join Sevilla. Meanwhile, Sergio Aguero spent a decade at Manchester City and became the club's all-time top scorer with 275 goals, the most crucial goal that saw them win their first-ever Premier League title in 2012.
For a player so cherished by Manchester City fans, he doesn't seem to have much to immerse himself in the local culture. In the 2018 documentary "All or Nothing," he said he lived a lonely life and spent most of his free time on his own, except when his son and siblings visited.
He barely spoke English, speaking in Spanish during BT Sports' Champions League final coverage, and Cesque Fabregas had to act as his translator.
Tevez is one of the few players to have played for both Manchester City pairs
Tevez: "There's nothing in Manchester"
But at least Aguero never complained about life in Manchester as much as his compatriot Carlos Tevez did. In 2009, Tevez moved from Manchester United to Manchester City and was at loggerheads with the club after refusing to warm up and coming off as a substitute in the 2011/12 Champions League clash with Bayern Munich. Nor is it the only event that has drawn the ire of supporters.
In 2011, where he lived in Manchester for four years, he said the city had "nothing" and admitted he hadn't met new people since moving to Manchester. "I would never go back, even if it was on vacation, for anything," he added.
Earlier this year, Tevez admitted he refused to learn English words during a bizarre protest because of the Falklands War. He said: "The seven years I spent in the UK were purely for work reasons, but I was not used to British culture. If you want to talk to me, you need to learn Spanish because I don't know English. ”
The Angels have only been in Manchester City for one season
"Everything here is terrible"
Argentines, in particular, seem to have a hard time enjoying life in Manchester. This is especially true for Di Maria, who became United's record signing in 2014 for £60 million ($76.2 million) but opted to leave a year later after falling out with Van Gaal and angering Red Devils fans with a lack of commitment.
When his family was at home, their house was stolen, which made them suffer. But his wife, Cardoso, later admitted to hating the city even before they started living in it.
She said: "I didn't want to go to Manchester because at the time I was friends with Gianna Maradona, she was married to Sergio Aguero and we flew from Madrid to visit him at his home in Manchester for two or three days, when Angel was resting for a few days at Real Madrid. ”。
"It's terrible! Everything was horrible, we went to that house and we were like...'Goodbye, guys, let's get out of here. When we left, I said to him, 'Go to any country or place, except England.' Anyway, a year later, we came to England again, and it was a horrible place."
Cardoso also said she was afraid of the "weird" people in the city. She added: "You walk down the street and don't know if they're going to kill you. All the girls were dressed up beautifully and perfectly dressed, and me, I combed my hair into a bun and didn't wear makeup. ”
Spanish striker Mata played for Manchester United
Mata embraces the art scene
A small number of foreign players enjoy living in this city. The best example is Juan Mata, who joined United after leaving Chelsea in 2014.
While in London, Mata started a blog in which he wrote about his experiences in the capital. When he moved to Manchester, he was passionate about the city's cultural offerings. He has written fiery reviews of his time in the North End and its record store, and is a regular visitor to the Whitworth Art Gallery.
He has been in touch with the city since leaving the club for Galatasaray in 2022. Last week, he returned to Manchester to open an art exhibition called Trequartista, Art and Football United, where he presented a performance artwork in collaboration with German artist Tino Sehgal.
Speaking to Manchester Evening News, Mata said: "Manchester is my home, I know a lot of people there and I'm sure they'll be happy when I go back and I'm looking forward to going back and visiting a lot of friends." It's a great city. ”。
Kompany is a former Manchester City captain
Kompany "knows the place"
Mata followed in the footsteps of another Manchester United great, staging an art exhibition in the city. Eric Cantona, who helped put the city back on the global map in the '90s, had a six-month exhibition at the Football Museum with local artist Michael Browne and often spoke about his love of the city's political activity and rebellionary history.
Another Manchester-born foreign champion is Vincent Kompany. The former Manchester City captain has run numerous campaigns targeting the homeless in the city, launching his charity to raise funds and raise awareness of the cause.
Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham praised Kompany's focus on homelessness, which is growing in the city, "a powerful illustration of the impact Manchester has had on him – his understanding of the place, and his emotional intelligence." The Belgian is also married to Manchester native Carla Higg, who is a lifelong Manchester City fan.