Manchester City are painting the town blue! Another mural will pop up if they win Treble

Part of Manchester’s identity, especially in the lively Northern Quarter just over a mile away from the Etihad Stadium, is now formed by what is on its walls.

There is an afternoon to be whiled away around the hipster neighbourhood taking in the eclectic street art around the bars and cafes, from the famous Blue Tit on a wall on Newton Street to the ever-changing designs around Stevenson Square.

And Manchester City want a piece of that action, working with leading artists in the football world, MurWalls, to produce a third mural for them. It’s in the design phase at the moment, somewhat dependant on the result of Saturday’s Champions League final against Inter Milan.

Suffice to say the new wall will have a Treble flavour to it should Ilkay Gundogan lift that trophy in Istanbul. A spot has been picked over the road from City’s home — on somebody else’s house. Its neighbour will be the graffiti work of Pep Guardiola, which MurWalls created earlier this season.

‘A perfectionist? That’s part of my job,’ reads the quote alongside Guardiola’s face, painted by Mr Meana and Snotone. The locals on the estate have taken to it. Especially the lady who owns the house, a City fan who has lived on the close for more than 30 years.

Artist Murwalls also known as Marc Silver (pictured) repairs some vandalism on the Pep Guardiola Mural outside the Etihad stadium

Silver says he feels ‘extremely close to the community’ when painting the murals around the stadium 

Manchester City are set to bid for a historic treble win on Saturday as they take on Inter Milan in the Champions League final after winning the Premier League and FA Cup

‘You feel extremely close to the community when it’s going up,’ MurWalls founder Marc Silver tells Mail Sport. ‘A lot of them stand around fascinated by what we are doing. We love to engage when they ask about the process. You hear stories of someone who might have grown up down there.

‘They feel like it’s become part of them. When we did the Pep one there was a little bit of trouble where a couple of idiots decided to vandalise it. People got together and watched over us while we fixed it and have protected it. I feel like it’s brought people closer together.

‘We did Harry Kane down at Tottenham the other week and he said he was speechless. We love the buzz. I’m always nervous planning these things but as soon as the paint hits the wall, I feel relaxed. If the sun is out shining and people are hanging around, there is no better feeling.’

Silver — who spends a lot of time around Anfield and was recently part of a project for Roberto Firmino — remains coy about City’s next mural, which will likely take three days to complete once the idea is finalised. His first job with the club came in 2021 in the week leading up to Sergio Aguero’s emotional departure.

‘We got a call out of the blue saying the marketing team wanted to do something really big,’ he adds. ‘Aguero came down, it was all quite emotional because it was before his last game. That was amazing. The club made 9,320 limited edition prints. Normally you would do 50 or 100 but we just thought, “Bang! Go for it”.

‘You could get a sense that he was very, very happy with it and very proud. He had pictures with everybody there.’ City wanted the piece in town and rules around there meant Aguero’s tribute could only remain for a month, whereas those close to the stadium are permanent.

A mural of Sergio Aguero was also painted on Dale Street in Manchester earlier in 2021

Several other murals have gone up outside the Etihad this season after the club’s success

Pep Guardiola’s (pictured) side have been imperious this season and can next week become the second English side ever to win the treble

‘The Northern Quarter is famous for street art but they wanted something really big,’ Silver says. ‘There are walls reserved just for billboards and advertising and we had two days to find a wall.

‘I pulled out all the stops and we were allowed to have it for four weeks. There was a lot of disappointment when it came down. Rio Ferdinand was walking past when they were taking it down and did a vlog claiming he was the one who made it happen. It was quite funny actually.’

As well as Liverpool, MurWalls have worked closely with West Ham, Spurs, Crystal Palace, Brighton, Everton and Watford. ‘It’s getting bigger and bigger,’ Silver says. ‘It’s a way of people expressing themselves.’

And what better than a City Treble to be expressive about.