Noel Gallagher names his greatest ever Man City player who ‘made the legend of Erling Haaland’ | OneFootball

Oasis star Noel Gallagher has revealed who he sees as the greatest player he’s seen at Man City in an incredible era of success for the club.

The Citizens supporters have been spoilt over the last 15 years with Man City winning eight Premier League titles, three FA Cups, a Champions League and seven Leageu Cups in that time.

Pep Guardiola was behind much of that success and Gallagher insists it has been “one of life’s great pleasures to have known him” during his time at Man City.

When asked by TNT Sports‘ commentator Darren Fletcher about interviewing Guardiola for the first time, Gallagher said: “Everybody who loves football loves that Barcelona team and when that Barcelona team came to London and they were playing Chelsea or Arsenal, we’d go and see them.

“Just to see Messi and that midfield – it seemed like it was this brand new way of playing football, where it was just pass, pass, pass, pass, pass. It was unbelievable, but I’d never met him. I flew in from Rome.

“I was on tour and he arrived, and from the minute he walked in, I was sold. I still haven’t watched the interview back. I was given a lot of questions, I doubt whether I asked any of them. He gave me his phone number, and he took mine, and he said, ‘Can I call you if I need anything?’ I was like, ‘What?’

“But he wanted to talk about the fans and the history of the club and Manchester. He was and has been amazing. He’s a fan and a romantic and he’s hardcore and he’s a winner. He’s a bad loser, all the things you would want your football manager to be. He’s funny and he gets that team to do things that no one else can. I have to say, it’s been one of life’s great pleasures to have known him.”

There have been many quality players to have blessed the Etihad turf over the last 15 years but Gallagher reckons Kevin De Bruyne was the best of them all.

Gallagher added: “For me, Kevin de Bruyne and Davia Silva are neck and neck. Silva was sublime, just one of the most beautiful footballers, never seemed to get tackled, never got injured, was always available, but De Bruyne was a killer. Silva made passes that none of the stadium would see.

“I remember once we were playing Stoke and he passed to Leroy Sane, who was four miles away in a different county, and it took out six defenders and the goalkeeper, and he just smashed it. It was unbelievable and no one in the stadium even seen it.

“Kevin De Bruyne made the legend of Erling Haaland. Erling knew once Kevin got the ball, he knew where it was going. Cherki now is a little bit different. Turkey is a little bit different. But they’ll get there. They’ll learn. But De Bruyne, for me, is the best I’ve seen. He was the best striker of a footballer I’ve ever seen.”

When asked about Guardiola’s greatest team at Man City, Gallagher replied: “He’s had two great teams. The one with 100 points which won the domestic treble [2018/19 season] and all that. And then there’s the treble winning team [of 2023], they’re two of the greatest teams to have done it.

“Statistically, the 100 pointing bears that out and the trophies for this for the treble-winning team. And how then he gets this team up to win four-in-a-row is possibly the better achievement.

“When we’re saying about keeping a team boiling until the end and until they win 100 points is one thing. Imagine coming back into training after winning the treble and then your boss is just like ‘You haven’t done anything’ and they’re straight back at it. To do four in a row, that’ll never be done in our lifetime again.”

Roll The Tape: 10 Years of Pep Guardiola with Noel Gallagher airs on Saturday at 3.30pm on TNT Sports 1 and HBO Max