Manchester City defender Ruben Dias says the club’s new signings are “starving” for success.
After securing four successive Premier League titles, a difficult campaign sees City lingering in fifth place at the start of the weekend and scrapping for a Champions League place rather than the title.
Callum Hudson-Odoi’s late winner was the difference for Nottingham Forest to hand Pep Guardiola’s side a 1-0 loss last Saturday, their ninth league defeat of the season.
Dias has been a key cog in City’s triumphs since joining the club in 2020, where he has won four league titles, a Champions League trophy along with the FA Cup and League Cup and he believes the players brought in during the January transfer window can increase the team’s desire for trophies.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Dias said: “Maybe this season was a cost we had to go through because of all the emotion of the past years. It’s football and we take it gladly. There’s no need to panic. We know very well who we are and the only way forward is to keep on working.
“This season was difficult so there was more than one time when we felt we needed to speak with each other but there’s also a time when you know what’s wrong and what has to improve, so it’s time to go on the pitch and work harder than ever.
“People will always want to take what’s yours, especially when we’ve conquered this much and we are the team we are. All the new signings come starving and they want to win. To be in a club like this, you want nothing else. You want people that are starving and want to win at all costs.
“I’m 27 and I feel like I’ve a lot to give. Not because my age says so, but because my feeling and will says so. This is my fifth season and I still want to win so much.”
Following their poor start, City brought in four players during the January transfer window with Nico Gonzalez, Omar Marmoush, Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov all arriving at the Etihad.
In February, they were knocked out of the Champions League following a two-leg defeat to Real Madrid and Guardiola claimed in a press conference on Friday that qualification for next year’s competition would be a “huge success”.
They now have 10 Premier League games left in order to try and secure that all-important Champions League spot and their fixture list includes a Manchester derby clash next month.
There is also still an opportunity for Guardiola’s team to earn a piece of silverware this season after they reached the FA Cup quarter-finals, where they will meet Bournemouth on the south coast later this month.
