Manchester City were greeted by singer Elton John as they touched down at Manchester Airport on their return from winning the FA Cup at Wembley.
The club posted videos of the squad posing for pictures with the 76-year-old on the tarmac as they disembarked from their plane late on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola said in advance of the final, which City won 2-1 against Manchester United to secure the second leg of a possible treble, that he had attended John’s concert in the city last week as he sought to take his mind off a defining period in the club’s history.
The club’s Twitter feed headed one of the videos “you can tell everybody we have won the FA Cup”, a reference to a line from the 1971 hit Your Song.
Sir Elton posted a picture on Instagram of him holding the FA Cup surrounded by Manchester City staff, including Guardiola.
City’s staff can be seen in video on Twitter taking pictures with the star while singing Your Song.
Sir Elton wrote: “Look who I ran into at Manchester Airport!
“Congratulations on an incredible double.
“Fingers crossed for the treble…”
Sir Elton was a boyhood fan of Watford and bought the football club in 1976, becoming chairman and president.
Watford are now in the Championship but played Premier League champions Manchester City in the 2019 FA Cup final, losing 6-0.
The 76-year-old had performed his final gig of three in the city earlier in that night.
As he left the City players, Sir Elton called out, ‘One more next week’ in reference to the third trophy they could win this season.
City were victorious at Wembley thanks to a goal in either half from Ilkay Gundogan – his first the fastest in FA Cup final history – as they added the trophy to the Premier League title they won in May.
They face Inter Milan in the Champions League final in Istanbul on Saturday seeking to become only the second English club after Manchester United to have won all three major trophies in a single season.
