Basketball legend Michael Jordan has paid tribute to Pep Guardiola as the departing Manchester City manager was given a final sendoff during an open-top bus parade and after-party featuring an on-stage contract announcement by one of the club’s top players.
After the parade through the streets of Manchester on Monday, a sellout crowd of 19,000 inside the Co-op Live arena near City’s Etihad Stadium witnessed a video message from Jordan to Guardiola on the big screen.
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“Hey, Pep, this is Michael Jordan,” the six-time National Basketball Association (NBA) champion said. “I just want to congratulate you on an unbelievable career. Enjoy your retirement.
“Good luck on the links,” Jordan added, in a nod to Guardiola’s hobby of golf, “and keep them straight. Congratulations.”
Guardiola is leaving after a record-breaking decade in charge of City, in which he won 17 major trophies.
Former City captain Vincent Kompany, the current Bayern Munich coach, and Noel Gallagher of the Britpop band Oasis attended the event in person. It was arranged to celebrate the domestic cup double of the men’s team as well as the club’s Women’s Super League and FA Youth Cup triumphs.
In the part of the show dedicated to the women’s team, record scorer Khadija “Bunny” Shaw announced on stage she had signed a new four-year contract with City, ending speculation linking her with Chelsea.
Shaw has already been with City for five years.
Also speaking on the stage was superstar forward Erling Haaland, who said he was determined to make sure City’s success does not end with the departure of Guardiola and longtime stalwarts Bernardo Silva and John Stones.
“It has been an up-and-down season,” Haaland said, “but we are going to try to keep pushing and try to fight to win the biggest trophies we can.
“It has been a pleasure to play with Bernardo and John, and of course for Pep. It has been an amazing journey, but we need to keep pushing and fighting even without them.”
Guardiola was invited to speak after all 20 trophies won during his tenure were carried to the stage by players, coaches and figures connected with the club, including Gallagher.
‘It has been a privilege’
Other former players in attendance were Fernandinho and Jack Grealish, a member of the 2023 treble-winning team who has spent the past year on loan at Everton.
“Thank you so much for coming here tonight to say bye,” Guardiola said. “I’ve felt the connection that this club [has] from the first minute.
“Thank you so much. I don’t have enough gratitude. I will have [that with me] for the rest of my life.”
At City’s final match under his leadership on Sunday, Guardiola spoke movingly about the bond he forged with players, staff, fans and the city. One of the most poignant moments came when he spoke of the pride he felt having his 95-year-old father, Valentin, at the game at the Etihad.
“Imagine as a dad, at 95, to feel how these people love his son,” Guardiola said. “That has been top for me, to give to my dad this kind of thing.”
The generational love continued as his daughter, Maria, shared a heartfelt post about him on social media.
“Years from now people will talk about football and try to explain what this era felt like, they’ll talk about your teams, the way they made people feel. Because beyond the trophies, you gave us memories we escaped real life for,” she said in a post on Instagram.
“It has been a privilege to watch and support you for almost 25 years. Thank you for always bringing us close to everything, for including us in it all. The biggest privilege has been to live it all beside you.
“For the world these were historic football moments, for us they were family memories, and I don’t think any of us realised while living it, that we were inside football history.
“And that stays long after the final whistle.”
