Enzo Maresca and Erling Haaland have both declined to engage with questions about Manchester City’s guilty verdict in the Premier League’s financial misconduct case. The pair insisted their full attention is on City’s league meeting with Liverpool after the September international break.
Their comments were relayed on X by Fabrizio Romano, with both men steering the conversation towards the match itself. Maresca did offer public backing for the club, telling reporters that he and the squad have complete faith in City.
The writers argue that everyone linked to the club would be better off staying silent. They accept that people are entitled to share their views within reason, and that Haaland and his teammates still have a job to do, namely winning matches and chasing trophies.
The trouble, they say, is that any City success from here will leave a sour taste for many Premier League supporters, and for plenty of fans across England. An independent commission has found the club guilty of 114 of the 115 charges, and although City can still appeal, that is where things stand.
They believe Haaland doesn’t mean to provoke rival supporters, but it’s hard to keep emotion out of it when a player is talking up a football match that seems trivial next to the long list of offences City have been found to have committed.
As they have said before, they feel a line should be drawn between the people on the pitch and the staff around them on one side, and the decision-makers and financial controllers behind the scenes on the other. Even so, the idea of City relaxing and enjoying themselves at Liverpool’s expense after years of alleged cheating clearly irritates them.
Their conclusion is that nobody should be carefree after a verdict that casts doubt on the legitimacy of the last 17 years of Premier League football, and City least of all.
