By Michael Church
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Ex-Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke has called for greater recognition of his former team’s treble-winning exploits as expectation grows that Manchester City will emulate their cross-city rivals’ historic 1999 achievement.
City completed the first leg of a potential treble last week by winning the Premier League title and will become the second team to claim all three trophies if they win the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League finals next month.
That would see Pep Guardiola’s team match the achievements of Alex Ferguson’s squad 24 years ago and Yorke, a key figure in that all-conquering side, wants the exploits of his teammates to be given greater acknowledgment.
“They’re not surpassing us, they’re joining in what we achieved,” Yorke said during a visit to Hong Kong this week. “I think people tend to forget that, they’re trying to put this City team on a pedestal as (doing) something no other team has done.
Yorke’s former club could derail City’s hopes of winning all three trophies, as Erik ten Hag will take United into a meeting with their cross-city rivals in the FA Cup final on June 3.
But if Guardiola’s team wins that clash at Wembley, City will then face Inter Milan in Istanbul on June 10 in the Champions League final, with the chance to claim a historic third trophy and cap a remarkable season.
City’s success has prompted comparisons between the Guardiola and Ferguson teams, but Yorke believes that discussion should wait until the end of the season.
“Why are we talking about it until they’ve done it?” he said. “(Wait) until you’ve done it then let’s have the debate. People are getting ahead of themselves here.”
(Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Gerry Doyle)
