Ilkay Gundogan honoured to lead Man City in FA Cup Final

Ilkay Gundogan is honoured to captain Manchester City in the first-ever all-Manchester FA Cup final today at Wembley.

Gundogan is hopeful that his side can win the FA Cup for the first time since 2019.

“It is a privilege,” Gundogan said about leading City on the field.

“It is a privilege to be the captain of this group and this amazing club. It is a big honour.

“It is another final and finals especially are played on a different level.

“Obviously, I want to support my teammates as good as possible as the captain and hopefully we can make it.

“It is very important. Obviously, there is a big tradition for this competition.

“The fact that we haven’t won it since 2019 just raises more hunger to do it again, especially in a final that is a derby against our big rivals.

“We are really looking forward to it.”

The German international also said that he takes leadership on the field very seriously.

“I feel like being elected as a captain at the beginning of the season was an appreciation for the way I am, the way I was behaving over the last few years and that is why I don’t feel like there is anything I need to do differently,” he said.

“I just try to stay who I am, be the same guy and to try to treat everyone as fair as possible and try to be there if someone has an issue, whether that’s a player or a member of staff.

“I take the responsibility very seriously and I try to live up to it every single day.”

The midfielder also spoke about the challenge posed by United in the final.

“First of all, they have individual quality. They are a team that compete and can beat probably anyone on a good day,” he said.

“They have finished the season in a really good condition I think.

“They have a manager that has been able to adjust a few things in the past few months.

“It seems like they have a good fit at the moment with the way they play, their mentality and it is going to be a very difficult final.”