Speaking at the glitzy ceremony in Paris, Soriano wanted to pay tribute to the team – and the team behind the team as he and the attending players were presented with the coveted prize.
“Thank you so much,” said Soriano.
“We are very proud, everybody at Manchester City. The chairman, the ownership, the board, everyone who works at Manchester City, we are very proud.
“We enjoyed a very good season, but we all know it’s not the product of one season, it’s the product of a lot of hard work.
“Obviously we are here because of these extraordinary players and others, our coaches, our football director.
“But behind there is a lot of people who have been working for the Club for a long time.
“It’s more than a decade of hard work. We also know there are many excellent football clubs and some of our colleagues here and we all work very good and very hard.
“It’s an honour to have it and to receive it for a second year is an honour. We love it!”
Rodrigo, who finished fifth in the Men’s Ballon d’Or and scored the goal that secured an historic Treble against Inter in the Champions League final, added: “It was an unbelievable, emotional sensation for all of us.
“One of our dreams came true to become champions of the Champions League.
“As Ferran says, a lot of years of hard work and not achieving it, we were there for the last years fighting for it, and finally we did it.
“I want to say a massive thank you for the Club and my teammates for all of their hard work over these years to achieve it.
“It was my goal, but it was there for all of us. It is a dream come true.”
Bernardo – one of five City players to finish in the Top 10 Men’s Ballon d’Or - commented: “Thank you so much. Not just the five players in the top 10 but to have so many nominees in both men’s and women categories.
“That’s a sign of the work of this Club, all of us together have been doing has been great.
“It’s also extra motivation to keep going and to push ourselves every day to get better and to try again.”
Ederson finished second in the Yashin Award for best goalkeeper while Erling Haaland won the Gerd Muller Trophy for most goals in 2022/23.
Our Norwegian No.9 was also runner-up in the Men’s Ballon d’Or behind Lionel Messi.
Kevin De Bruyne was voted in fourth spot; Julian Alvarez was seventh in the Men’s Ballon d’Or, with Josko Gvardiol in 25th and Ruben Dias in 30th.
In the women’s category, Bunny Shaw finished 24th, Yui Hasegawa 27th and Jill Roord 29th.
Congratulations to all our players!
