Kyle Walker has admitted it ‘doesn’t look great’ for Manchester City after they were found guilty of breaching the Premier League’s financial regulations. But he insists the prizes they won amid fierce competition from Liverpool cannot be taken away from them.
City maintain their innocence and have appealed against the verdict after an independent commission said more than £830million of owner funding was used to inflate revenues and enable the club to comply with Premier League and UEFA financial rules through a series of “sham” arrangements over a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018.
Walker's trophy haul and appeal stance
Walker joined City in a £50m switch from Tottenham Hotspur in 2017 and went on to win six Premier League titles, the Champions League, six domestic cups, the FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup during his eight seasons at the Etihad. That included a Premier League and League Cup double in his first season at the club in 2017/18 - the final year under investigation.
City went on to benefit further from their financial wrong-doings in the years following the investigation, establishing themselves as the dominant force in English football throughout Walker’s time at the club.
The independent commission will decide on sanctions at a further hearing. And while Walker is anxious about what the verdict will mean for his former club, he insists the honours cannot be taken away from the City players regardless of any verdict or sanctions because they still ‘experienced them nights’.
“Obviously it doesn’t look great,” he said on talkSPORT. “I know it’s in an appeal stage so, for me to start commenting on the legal action and everything like that, probably it’s not going to do myself justice or anyone involved in it.
“But, at a personal level, I can say the lads, we spent many and many a great year celebrating many trophies and everything like that and that’s something that, whatever happens, they can’t take away from us because we’ve experienced them nights.
“So, whatever will be, will be, and it’s just down to the appeal now and what goes from there.
“It’s something that we probably don’t want to talk about because we want to be looked upon as winning them trophies, winning them the right way.
“It’s very difficult because we’ve worked very hard for them, and not just us, I look at the fans as well.
“I look at the fans that have travelled up and down the country, travelled abroad to Istanbul when we won the treble and stuff like that, and they deserve that night as well.”
Akanji's concerns and Robertson's view
Walker’s former team-mate Manuel Akanji has also had his say on the verdict, sharing his concern that the Premier League could strip him and his team-mates of the titles they won during their time at the Etihad.
The Switzerland international only joined City in 2022, winning two Premier League titles, the Champions League, the FA Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup during his four years at the club. Those prizes were all won in the years following the investigation into City’s financial dealings. But that has not stopped Akanji from fretting about the potential ramifications of the case as he revealed what he had been told by the club since the guilty verdict was made public.
“I’m still in touch with a few players, but I don’t know any more than you do,” he told Nau. “We were told to stay calm, that they had everything under control and nothing major had happened.
“I trust the people in charge at Man City that that’s the case. I hope I don’t lose my titles. That would be a bit of a shame. But I’m only seeing it all in the news, too.
"Who knows what else they might dig up. After all, you’re still looking for things related to the coronavirus that happened five years ago.”
For the record, Liverpool legend Andy Robertson does not believe Man City should be stripped of their titles.
The Scotland international joined the Reds in 2017 and won every major honour during his nine years at Anfield. However, he also missed out on two Premier Leagues to City by a solitary point despite Jurgen Klopp’s side registering over 90 points themselves.
And having repeatedly gone toe-to-toe with Pep Guardiola’s side in the years that followed the period under investigation, Robertson insists, on the pitch at least, City were fully deserving of the honours they won and that the players should not be tarnished by the actions of club bosses.
"I think you can hear the shock in my voice,” he said at a pre-match press conference during the international break. “The case has obviously been going on. For me, the [Man City] players showed they were good enough on the pitch.
"I don’t know too much about the charges. But they had an incredible team, one that I loved battling against.
"I don’t think when it comes to these things that players are ever to blame. That’s all I can focus on."
