Pep Guardiola says it could take Manchester City ten years to reach the same level as the great European teams.
But the Blues boss does not mean that the fans will have to wait until 2027 to start achieving the kind of success currently enjoyed by Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich!
Guardiola has been speaking to newspaper L'Esportiu during a holiday in his native Catalonia, with work beginning in earnest on Monday when he and the players are due to return for the start of pre-season.
And he talked of how the rejuvenation of the team is under way with the purchase of youngsters like Gabriel Jesus and Ilkay Gundogan to replace ageing stars from Manuel Pellegrini's team.
When asked about his first season at City, Guardiola said: “I hope to have as much fun here as in the first season, because I enjoyed it.
“There are people who say that it has not gone well, but it’s the exception to what I’ve done so far – seven years of coaching and six leagues won.
“City is a great team, but getting to Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Juventus… it’s very complicated. You need time, a decade.”
That has been interpreted as meaning it will be ten years before City reach the same level as the likes of Madrid or Barca.
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But Guardiola has simply expanded on a recurring theme – he believes that the only way City can achieve the same status as those European giants is to consistently play, and progress, in the Champions League.
Only that way will the confidence and belief of players, staff and fans grow to the point that they feel they belong on the same stage.
We saw it last season when, after a fantastic comeback in the first leg against Monaco, they took a 5-3 lead to the principality – and you could almost see the self-doubt creeping over them as Monaco went onto the front foot.
City have now been in the Champions League for six seasons, and have qualified for the knockout stages for the last four, and Guardiola's task is to break through that final barrier and reach a final.
“We want it and we have time to do it,” he said, and commented on how having fellow Catalans and close pals Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano as football director and chief executive respectively, has been a bonus.
“Having Txiki by my side gives me much warmth, and the same can be said of Ferran Soriano, one of the most admirable people I have known – and he has always supported us when things have not gone well,” he said.
“Now Txiki is trying to make the changes necessary to strengthen the team, which was the oldest in the Premier League.
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“It was a successful team, but it had grown old. We have rejuvenated it with Gabriel Jesus and Ilkay Gundogan and will continue to do so.
“I played with eight or nine of Pellegrini's players – they are good but we had to rejuvenate the team.”