Maresca: Man City Titles 'Absolutely Not' Tainted — SkimNews
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- Enzo Maresca declared City's titles "absolutely not" tainted after the commission found the club guilty of the majority of 115 Premier League financial charges, saying he "100%" trusts the owners and believes they will win the appeal
- An independent commission found Man City guilty of all charges relating to financial regulation breaches between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, citing "sham" contracts and misleading accounts used to disguise secret funding of more than £830m
- Manchester City have appealed the verdict, claiming in a statement the ruling contained "clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe"
- Maresca said he would "100%" still have accepted the manager's job even had the findings been published before his summer appointment, and insisted the charges were never discussed in his hiring conversations
- Erling Haaland is "ready" to play at Liverpool on Sunday per Maresca, where City face a likely more hostile Anfield crowd; Maresca has won his first five Premier League games and could become the fourth manager to win his first six of a spell in charge
- Former City captain and current Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany weighed in separately, saying he is "really proud" of what the team achieved on the pitch and "as a player you're not a part of" the off-field matters
Why it matters: The £830m in disguised funding and "sham contracts" finding could lead to retrospective point deductions or title stripping if the appeal fails, yet Maresca's whole-throated backing of the ownership — and Kompany's solidarity from Bayern — signal the club is rallying rather than conceding, with Sunday's trip to Anfield now doubling as a public test of that siege mentality.
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