Man City FFP: Ex-Man Utd star Herrera delivers punishment verdict – ‘I would have a title’
Ex-Man Utd midfielder Ander Herrera thinks Man City should face relegation if their appeal against the verdict is upheld in their financial fair play case.
It was revealed over the last international break that Man City had been found guilty of 114 of their 115 charges after being accused of breaching the Premier League’s financial fair play regulations.
Man City still deny any wrongdoing and have launched an appeal against the verdict with the response to that expected in the new year.
Man Utd finished second and 19 points adrift of Man City in the 2018/19 campaign but Herrara insists he “would have a Premier League title” if the Citizens hadn’t broken the rules.
Herrera said on the Mario Suárez podcast: “I would have a Premier League title.
“It really changes the picture when you have a Premier League [title].”
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On Jose Mourinho’s comments that year, Herrera added: “It was the year [2018] when Mourinho said that bit about ‘I give a lot of credit to this second-place finish because nobody knows what’s going on behind the scenes’.
“Mou [Mourinho]’s like The Simpsons — whatever he says, it ends up happening. And he’d already been saying that something strange was going on.
“You have to follow the rules, and what was happening wasn’t right — we all realised that. I’ve had friends who’ve come to Manchester and they couldn’t get tickets to go to Old Trafford, yet the ones for the Etihad were being given away for free. They don’t have the fan base, but they spend as if they did…”
Despite wanting to see Man City punished, Herrera holds no ill will against any of the Citizens players or staff, he said: “Nothing to say about the players, nothing to say about the manager [Pep Guardiola]. They deserve all the credit in the world for what they’ve achieved.
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“If I were a Manchester City player, I’d be angry; I’d be furious with those in charge because they’ve tarnished and cast doubt on everything the team has achieved over the years.”
Herrera on potential Man City sanction: ‘It has to be something big’
Although the sanction has not been decided with a Man City appeal pending, Herrera thinks the punishment would need to be relegation or something equally serious to put off other clubs from breaking the rules in the future.
On potential punishments, Herrera continued: “For me, it has to be something big, something that sets a precedent — as Rooney said recently.
“It has to set a precedent so that the next person who says, ‘I’m going to inflate the revenue illegally’ will think, ‘No, I won’t do it because I’ll get relegated.’
“Nottingham Forest were sanctioned [with a four-point deduction in the 2022-23]; Everton were sanctioned [with a 10-point deduction in the 2021-22 season].
“The damage they [Man City] have caused is obviously irreparable.
“In terms of revenue, Tottenham finished fifth for three consecutive years and failed to qualify for the Champions League. That has a significant financial impact on Tottenham.”
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