The Manchester City saga could rumble on for even more years to come.
That is the viewpoint of the club’s chief executive Ferran Soriano, who was speaking at a board meeting of European Football Clubs (formerly the ECA) in Copenhagen on Monday.
The Press Association reports that Soriano told executives within the meeting that “it’s taken eight years to get here and it’s going to take a lot more time”, referring to the start of the Premier League’s investigation into City back in 2018.
City were accused of a wide range of rule breaches and last Friday it emerged that they had been found guilty of 114 of the 115 charges brought against them. The Premier League and City have not denied that the club has been found guilty of the majority of charges which were first brought against them in 2023.
Soriano, in place at City since 2012, declined to answer numerous questions fielded from reporters following the conclusion of the meeting. It is claimed that during the meeting he did not directly mention the verdict of guilt over financial wrongdoing by City for years.
For their part, City maintain their innocence with chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak issuing a statement over the weekend where he insisted: “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.”
Ex-players have also since come out and defended the club’s integrity. Joe Hart, who spent 12 years at City, said: “My honest opinion is I’ve got no reason not to trust Khaldoon. What he said is enough for me. If Man City are found guilty, which I don’t think they are because of what Khaldoon said, then there’s conversations to be had.
“But right now I’m very confident and very, very calm. I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved and what I did with Manchester City and what we achieved as a team. And that doesn’t change. That doesn’t change until you tell me.”
