City face United in a 15:00 (UK) kick-off as Pep Guardiola’s men look to earn the domestic double, following our success in the Premier League.
Gundogan spoke of his pride at captaining the team in such an important occasion as he also waxed lyrical about the prestige of the competition, which is the oldest in the world and which the sky blues have won six times in our history to date.
On being skipper on Saturday, he said: “It is a privilege.
“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.
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“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.”
This is Gundogan’s first campaign as skipper of City – and one he’s thoroughly enjoyed, especially after already lifting the Premier League trophy.
The German international says it’s an honour to lead such a talented group of players and one he naturally takes extremely seriously.
He continued: “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.
“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.”
Standing in the way of Gundogan lifting his second trophy of 2022/23 this weekend are rivals and neighbours, United, who finished third in the top-flight this season under new boss Erik ten Hag.
Gundogan believes they are a dangerous side and one City have to be wary of come kick-off.
He continued: “First of all, they have individual quality.
“They are a team that compete and can beat probably anyone on a good day.
“They have finished the season in a really good condition I think.
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“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.”
Of course, it’s not just an FA Cup final on the horizon for City, we also have a Champions League showpiece the following Saturday.
We face Inter at the Ataturk Stadium but Gundogan, while aware of how big that game is, insists it’s full focus on United this weekend.
He added: “It is not a distraction, but it is something we don’t talk about in the dressing room to be honest. Everything is mostly from outside.
“We are built to win games and we have won a lot in the past.
“Obviously with two more finals to go we will try our best to win these two finals.
“Everything else is not really anything we think about on a daily basis. It is just about winning the next game.”
