Manuel Akanji is watching the Manchester City story the same way most fans are, through news bulletins. The Switzerland and Inter Milan defender said that is what he has been left with since the Premier League confirmed on 29 September that his former club had been found guilty of 114 of 115 financial rule breaches.
Speaking after Switzerland’s 3-0 Nations League win over North Macedonia in Lucerne, Akanji told reporters that his inbox from inside the dressing room has gone quiet.
“I’m still in touch with a few players, but I don’t know any more than you do,” he said, in comments carried by Nau.
The internal message to City players, he said, had been reassuring but light on detail.
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“We were told to stay calm, that they had everything under control and that nothing serious had happened. I trust those in charge at Man City that that is the case.”
The trust is real. The worry has not gone away.
“I hope I don’t lose my titles. That would be a bit of a shame. But I’m only seeing it all in the news as well.”
What the commission actually found
The findings cover a nine-year period from 2009 to 2018, well before Akanji joined City from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2022. According to the Premier League statement, the independent commission found City guilty of 80 charges related to financial wrongdoing and 34 of 35 charges of failing to cooperate with the league’s investigation. The commission concluded that the club used sham commercial contracts to inflate revenues and reduce costs by more than £900m across the period.
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City have called the findings “unsafe” and said they will be relentless in clearing the club’s name.
Guardiola: ‘We will get through this together’
Pep Guardiola, who left the club in May 2026 after a decade as manager, broke his silence on 30 September with a short message on his official social media.
“I want every single Manchester City fan across the world to know I am here; more than ever. I am, always have been, always will, be behind my club, my owner, my chairman, Ferran, the players, staff, Enzo and you, our unique supporters. Let me be clear: we will get through this together. I love you all.”
That is the public line Akanji’s former team-mates have been handed. In Lucerne, he also reached for a touch of humor about what the Premier League’s lawyers might surface next.
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“Who knows what else they’ll find. You’re still digging up Covid-related stuff from five years ago, after all.”
Where this leaves his medals
The trophies Akanji won at City, including the 2022-23 Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble, and a second Premier League title in 2023-24, all fall outside the 2009 to 2018 window the charges cover. Under the current scope, they are not formally at risk.
City had until 2 October to lodge their appeal, which will be heard by a new three-person independent panel. The commission will decide sanctions at a separate private hearing once that process is finished. The range on the table includes points deductions, fines, transfer and registration bans, retrospective title-stripping and expulsion from the Premier League.
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