Maresca says 'feeling is fantastic' among Man City squad — SkimNews
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- Maresca said the "feeling is fantastic" among Manchester City players who "don't care too much about the noise," nine days after the Premier League report found the club used "sham" contracts to disguise secret funding of more than £830m
- City sit top of the league ahead of Sunday's trip to Liverpool at Anfield (16:30 BST); the club has launched an appeal and publicly and privately maintained its innocence
- Maresca had asked returning international players not to let the crisis affect their attitude or focus, telling reporters he feels "calm" and the squad trusts the club "completely"
- Erling Haaland, telling Sky Sports he considers himself a City fan after four years at the club, urged players and supporters to "stick together, spread the love" and "enjoy the ride"
- Rival Premier League managers declined to engage with the verdict — Coventry's Frank Lampard, Leeds' Daniel Farke and Newcastle's Matthias Jaissle all steered clear, with multiple clubs understood to have instructed their coaches not to comment during compulsory pre-match media duties
Why it matters: The "noise" Maresca and Haaland dismissed includes the Premier League's finding of "sham" contracts tied to £830m in secret funding and a guilty verdict on 115 charges — a finding already heavy enough to prompt rival clubs to gag their own managers from commenting, signalling the league-wide pressure surrounding City's appeal. Sunday's Anfield trip, with City top of the table, is the first on-pitch public test of whether the "we don't care" stance survives contact with a title-race fixture.
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