Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has said he would not accept a Premier League winners' medal if Manchester City are stripped of their 2012 title win. Rooney, 40, admitted he would feel 'uncomfortable' being awarded a medal after United finished second to City and lost the title on goal difference.
It was City's first Premier League crown, with Sergio Aguero scoring the iconic stoppage-time winner on the final day. But Rooney's stance goes against two of his former team-mates.
Former Team-Mates Disagree
Both Rio Ferdinand and David de Gea feel that they should be considered title winners from the 2011-12 season after City were found to have breached financial rules between 2009 and 2018. The club continue to deny the 115 charges and say that they remain confident they will prove their innocence.
"I have heard Rio has come out saying about getting another Premier League medal... I wouldn't really feel comfortable accepting another Premier League medal, if I'm being honest," Rooney said on the Stick To United podcast.
Rooney's Reasoning
"I don't think we deserve it, we didn't do enough that season to win the league. I think we were six or seven points clear with four or five games to go and we threw it away."
"I've seen everything that has come out over the past few days and listening to people and I was putting myself in a Man City player's shoes... they're players, they're doing everything they can to try and win the Premier League title and in their mind they have done it, if those players have no understanding of what is going on above them, if that happened to me... I would be absolutely devastated."
"It might happen, they might take them [medals] away, but I wouldn't want it [a medal] because I don't think as a team we deserved it that year because obviously we didn't finish first."
"So when I see team-mates saying, 'I want a medal', I'm happy with the five I've won. I wouldn't want this one. Should they get it stripped for what the owners have done? Yeah maybe, but I wouldn't feel comfortable accepting it."
Club Response
The Premier League have not issued a statement on the verdict, with reports first emerging on Friday. The league have, however, declined to comment while City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak addressed the widespread reports in a letter to fans on Saturday.
Al Mubarak wrote: "The Premier League process still has a long way to run, and our confidence and intent in proving the Club's innocence is just as strong as when this began. There are so many things that I would like to be able to share with you to help you understand why we feel so confident in our position."
