• Italian said he built a fantastic team before he was sacked
• ‘The players that score goals are the players I bought’

Roberto Mancini has claimed that Manchester City’s stellar campaign is down to the team he “built” when manager. The Italian also dismissed the role of his successor, Manuel Pellegrini, stating he had done precisely the same three years ago.

Mancini was sacked towards the end of last season and under Pellegrini City are the only side who can win an unprecedented quadruple, with the Blues having already reached the League Cup final.

Yet Mancini is adamant that this success is because of him. “I’m happy that Manchester City is one of the best teams in England because I built this team. I think Pellegrini is doing a good job but what is happening now at Manchester City, we did three years ago. It’s the same.

“The players that score the goals are players that I bought – Sergio Agüero, Edin Dzeko, Yaya Touré, David Silva and Samir Nasri,” he told BBC World Service. “I’m very happy about what I did in Manchester, I love the Manchester City supporters and I had a fantastic experience.

“After four or five years, maybe the manager needs to change the team. I did my job, I built a fantastic team, we played fantastic football and we didn’t win last year only because Manchester United bought Robin van Persie. He was the difference, if not I think that would have changed the history in Manchester over the last three years. We played really good football and now they are continuing to do this.”

• Roberto Mancini
• Manuel Pellegrini
• Manchester City

Jamie Jackson

theguardian.com