Man City FFP: Inside Liverpool reaction to guilty verdict as ‘only surprise’ revealed
There was one ‘overriding emotion’ at Liverpool when they learnt Manchester City had been found guilty of breaching Premier League rules as a report details the Reds reaction to the news.
City have been found guilty of 114 of the 115 charges brought against them by the Premier League as an independent panel found them to have made ‘sham’ payments to the tune of £900m to boost their coffers between 2009 and 2018.
The club continue to profess their innocence and have now appealed the verdict, insisting that ‘irrefutable evidence’ will see a new panel rule in their favour.
They shouldn’t hold out much hope as ten grounds for said appeal almost certainly won’t wash, and the club faces a significant punishment in what has quickly become one of the greatest sporting scandals in history.
City could be expelled from the Premier League and even land in League Two, if the EFL accepts them, and it’s also been suggested they could have the titles they won in the nine-year period of wrongdoing stripped.
Liverpool have as big a claim as any club for compensation, and have written to City to give notice of their plan to claim damages against them.
The Reds fell two points short of Manuel Pellegrini’s Premier League title-winning side in 20131/14, and they lost the Carabao Cup final on penalties shortly into Jurgen Klopp’s tenure at the club in 2016.
That was before what became a tussle for dominance in the English top flight between Klopp and Pep Guardiola, who wouldn’t have joined the club without a squad built on ‘sham’ deals and the success already bought through illegal means.
But according to the Liverpool Echo, ‘relief has been the overriding emotion across the club’ upon hearing of City’s guilt, not ‘anger or joy’.
The report adds:
‘To many inside Anfield, the decision the independent Commission reached last week caused little shock. The only surprise was how robust some of the Premier League’s language was in its redacted, 40-page core decision which was published on the day.’
Man City at Anfield
Liverpool will host Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday in what will be Enzo Maresca and his City players’ first exposure to Premier League fans since the verdict was made public.
They’ve already been warned by multiple former players over what looks set to be a brutal atmosphere at Anfield, and in all grounds for the foreseeable future, but Liverpool Echo report that Merseyside police are not putting in any special measures for the game.
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