Last season, Manchester City star John Stones developed a humorous catchphrase in an effort to win the captaincy.

Ilkay Gundogan, a former captain of City, who finally defeated Stones for the position and won the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League trophy, agrees.

John Stones tried to become Manchester City captain last season

The now-Barcelona star and Kevin De Bruyne were the two most seasoned players on Pep Guardiola’s roster when the Citizens had a team vote last season.

However, Stones put his name in the hat and made an all-out effort to win over his teammates.

Even more outrageous election posters with the tagline “John Stones – Man of the People” were distributed by the England international.

According to Gundogan, John did advertise himself, but more for amusement.

“I was reasonably confident that I would be in the top three when I was chosen as captain.

“The question was whether Kev [De Bruyne] or I would win. I believe it was fairly close.

After City’s incredible Treble-winning season, Gundogan departed the club as a free agent.

The German international said that the summer contract offer from the Manchester giants was too late.

In the end, the 32-year-old rejected a new contract at the Etihad in favor of a transfer to Barcelona.

And the German has acknowledged that if they had approached him earlier, he might have been persuaded to prolong his seven-year tenure.

“I’m honest, and a lot of people don’t know this, but in the end, it wasn’t about a year or two,” said Gundogan.

“City waited a fair amount of time before the discussions truly heated up. The scenario would have been different if this had occurred a bit earlier.

Stones put together a hilarious campaign with a funny slogan but lost to Ilkay Gundogan

It was very late in the season, but I don’t want to get into specifics.

Gundogan stated that he needed to fully concentrate on the challenges ahead by the time City brought up the possibility of his staying.

“Players want to focus solely on sport during a Champions League quarterfinal or semifinal,” he continued. I was unsure of what would occur next. I was unable to make any plans.

Pep Guardiola was always appreciative, but the club didn’t take any official action for a while.

Therefore, it was the ideal conclusion at City, and it couldn’t have happened at a better time. My earliest ambition was to join FC Barcelona.

Gundogan acknowledged that it was a difficult phone conversation to make, but Guardiola did all in his power to convince his captain to stay at the Etihad.

Unfortunately, I didn’t say farewell in person since I didn’t decide until two days before Germany’s match against Colombia, which was played two days after the Champions League final.

“Therefore, that was likely the most difficult phone conversation I’ve ever made in my life. The talk was emotional, but Pep was also pleased that I was joining Barcelona, his old club.