Manchester City's pre-season tour got off to an unusual start as the players received a very special send-off at Manchester airport.
Troy Hawke — a character belonging to the 'Greeter's Guild' created by comedian Milo McCabe — was on hand to greet City's players at the private jet terminal as a doorman, offering words of encouragement before the jetted off to the United States. Filmed and published on City's YouTube channel, Hawke's imaginative one-liners and the reactions of the players, Pep Guardiola and his staff are hilarious.
Jack Grealish was the first to fall for the prank, which he did hook line and sinker.
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"You have a fabulously symmetrical face!" Hawke told Grealish, prompting the £100m star to turn and reply "I have what?" Hawke repeated the compliment, but Grealish was clearly a little confused. After a few seconds of silence he turned to walk away and said "cheers!"
Kalvin Phillips and Nathan Ake both took Hawke more seriously, the latter actually seeming quite pleased with his bespoke greeting.
"You have the poise of an apex predator but the eyes of a kindly woodland creature — it's a devastating combination," Hawke said, before coming out with a line that is sure to become City meme material for months to come: "get in there and smash it all up."
Ruben Dias remarked to the camera "who is this guy?", while City's new striker Erling Haaland lived up to his reserved reputation when it comes to media duties, as he looked unimpressed when Hawke said: "Welcome to training camp, you're a tremendous Nordic meat shield."
Guardiola wasn't exempt from the prank either. As he approached the doors, Hawke stopped him and asked: "Who's more the pep-talker: the pep-talker or the pep-talker who gives Pep a pep-talk?"
The boss took it well, replying "Pep pep-talker."
City have now landed in the US, where they will face Club America in a friendly in Houston on Thursday. The Blues will then fly up to Wisconsin, where they will take on Bayern Munich at Green Bay's Lambeau Field on Saturday.
As City confirmed last week, John Stones, Phil Foden and Ilkay Gundogan have not travelled as they do not meet US entry requirements. Aymeric Laporte has not travelled either as he continues his recovery from injury. All four will instead accompany the U23s on their pre-season camp in Croatia.
The full squad will reunite in the final week of the month ahead of the Community Shield clash with Liverpool on 30 July.
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