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Tottenham Hotspur left back Andy Robertson has argued it would be unfair to hold Manchester City players responsible for the club's guilty verdict on financial fair play violations, saying "the players showed they were good enough on the pitch."
Man City find themselves at the center of controversy after being found guilty of 114 out of 115 financial charges brought against them covering the period between 2009 and 2018 following a lengthy investigation.
Discussions over the appropriate punishment for City's offenses are still underway, though the club is widely expected to appeal any sanctions handed down, as it continues to maintain its innocence. Nevertheless, the ruling dominated football headlines at the start of the international break.
"The consequences City are staring down look stark."
Manchester City could face a range of punishments over the 115 Premier League charges. From financial penalties and points deductions to suspension, expulsion and potentially even the stripping of titles.
Sports Illustrated… pic.twitter.com/BU5ksJAzt2
Robertson, who spent nine years at Liverpool—City's fiercest Premier League rival over the last decade—before making the move to Tottenham this summer, offered his perspective on the ruling while away on international duty with Scotland.
"I think you can hear the shock in my voice," Robertson said. "The case has obviously been going on. For me, the players showed they were good enough on the pitch.
"I don't know too much about the charges and stuff like that. But they had an incredible team, one that I loved battling against. I don't think when it comes to these things that players are ever to blame. That's all I can focus on."
Other players, including former Man City midfielder Rodri, have similarly spoken out in support of the club.
Jürgen Klopp's Old Comments Resurface
While Robertson is keen to ensure Man City's players are not held accountable for the guilty verdict, he stopped short of addressing the possibility of the Citizens being retroactively stripped of titles won during the period in which the financial violations took place.
Though such a punishment seems highly improbable, Robertson's former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has already made clear what he would do if the Reds were retroactively awarded Premier League titles.
"If it would happen, I told all the people that want it to book a flight, I buy the beer," Klopp said in 2024 following his departure from Liverpool. "Whatever we have to celebrate we will do it, we would have our own parade in my garden."
That said, the only Premier League crown Liverpool could realistically reclaim retroactively would be from the 2013–14 season, when they finished as runners-up to City under Brendan Rodgers. Klopp's Liverpool also finished second to Pep Guardiola's City in 2018–19 and 2021–22, both of which fall outside the timeframe covered by City's financial breaches.
Whatever the final verdict may be, City could be facing serious consequences in the months ahead.