Dias: It’s been a special year…a year we’ll never forget!

Ruben Dias has reflected on our astonishing 2023, insisting: ‘It’s been a special year…undoubtedly a year that we’ll never forget’.

City have lifted five major honours – the Premier League, the FA Cup, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup – in the last 12 months, becoming the first English club in history to simultaneously hold this quality quintet of trophies.

Dias, an inspirational figure in the centre of defence during this unprecedented period in City history, is proud of what’s been achieved as he discussed the final piece of the joyous jigsaw, the Club World Cup, which was secured in Jeddah just before Christmas.

“It’s special. It’s a trophy that means a lot – sometimes even more than people think,” said the 26-year-old on becoming a world champion.

“After everything that came before it as well, it’s a special trophy to add to our collection.

“For both me and the club, it’s been a special year, for everything that we won, for how we have won it, our whole playing philosophy.

“It’s undoubtedly been a year that we’ll never forget.”

Despite an abundance of accolades for Dias, including individual recognition via a place in both the Champions League and PFA Team of the Year, the likeable defender is hungry for more.

He expected this current 2023/24 campaign to be tougher than those that have come before because of the energy that went into earning the Treble last season.

But he’s confident the blues can challenge for more honours as the term continues.

“Well, we always knew that this wasn’t going to be an easy season, especially after having won so much,” continued Dias.

“I think this is the step that can define what will happen this season. The ability, despite the difficulties that we will face, to keep stepping forward without losing that enthusiasm. This is what makes the difference in the end.

“We’ve had a difficult period as you said, but the truth is that we are very close, and I think the most important thing throughout this period is to survive and maintain a distance that we can overcome.

“It is what it is, hard work, very, very high demands, highly competitive… that’s the league that we’re in. You can see from just looking at the table, there are six or seven teams that are all very close to first place.