Three voices have escaped the walls of the Etihad in the space of a week.
Kyle Walker, who left City in 2025 after eight seasons, told talkSPORT the ruling “doesn’t look great”, but drew a firm line between what a courtroom decides and what a trophy cabinet holds.
“Obviously it doesn’t look great. I know it’s in an appeal stage so, for me to start commenting on the legal action and everything like that, probably it’s not going to do myself justice or anyone involved in it,” he said on Tuesday.
“But, at a personal level, I can say the lads, we spent many and many a great year celebrating many trophies and everything like that and that’s something that, whatever happens, they can’t take away from us because we’ve experienced them nights.”
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Walker also thought of the supporters who followed the side to the 2023 Champions League final in Istanbul, saying they “deserve that night as well”.
Burnham’s Abu Dhabi defence lands him in trouble
Andy Burnham has spent the week walking back a BBC interview in which he said he would be “really concerned to lose” City’s Abu Dhabi owners, calling them “such a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester”.
The remarks drew an immediate backlash and forced Downing Street into a public distancing act. Burnham’s spokesperson has since called the guilty verdict “serious” and said that where “wrongdoing is established, those responsible should face the appropriate consequences”.
The row has a longer history than most of this week’s noise: Burnham has been photographed alongside City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak at club events, and his civic defence of Abu Dhabi United Group has run throughout his two terms as mayor.
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‘Nothing has happened’: the message inside the dressing room
Behind the scenes, City have pushed a message of calm. Manuel Akanji, now at Inter Milan, has told Swiss outlet Nau that the squad had been reassured nothing major had happened and that the club had everything under control.
Gianluigi Donnarumma’s agent went on Italian radio to say the goalkeeper had been given private assurances.
“The club has spoken with Gigio and everyone is calm,” he said.
Nico Gonzalez, who moved to Newcastle in August 2026, told Sky Sports the fallout was “a hard situation for everyone”.
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The ruling and City’s appeal
An independent commission ruled on 25 September 2026 that City had been guilty of 114 of the 115 Premier League charges, concluding more than £830m of owner funding had been used to inflate commercial revenues through “sham” arrangements over nine seasons from 2009-10 to 2017-18.
City have lodged an appeal, arguing the commission’s decision contains “clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe”. A sanctions hearing has yet to be scheduled, and under Premier League rules a final decision may not come before 2027. Possible outcomes range from fines and heavy points deductions to expulsion from the Premier League.
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