Ruben Dias emphatically answers what Manchester City’s treble means to the fans and the club

Manchester City’s defensive leader Ruben Dias has had an emphatic response to comments made by Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold earlier this week. City striker Erling Haaland has already responded to the England international’s comments about the success of Manchester City and Liverpool.

This time it was the turn of City’s defensive leader to issue his rebuttal to Alexander-Arnold’s recent comments in Four Four Two magazine. The England international said: “It’s tough. We’re up against a machine that’s built to win – that’s the simplest way to describe City and their organisation. Looking back on this era, although they’ve won more titles than us and have probably been more successful, our trophies will mean more to us and our fanbase because of the situations at both clubs, financially. How both clubs have built their teams and the manner in which we’ve done it, probably means more to our fans.

Speaking with BBC Sport Manchester Ruben Dias had an emphatic response to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s comments. The Portuguese international said: “You can only have certain emotions if you actually win stuff; a treble is a feeling that you can only know how it feels when you actually do it.”

Dias added that Manchester City only focus on their success and not on what other clubs achieve. He added: “We know what we’ve conquered, we know what we’re going for, and what’s to come. We don’t do it for anyone else, we do it for ourselves. Other people’s success is deserved for their own achievements. What we focus is on ourselves… and that’s the way to be big, to be a big club – not trying to comment on other people’s success or lack of success, and trying to make it bigger or smaller depending on how convenient it is for you.”