Man City charges: Kyle Walker, Manuel Akanji share honest views on guilty Premier League verdict

Manchester City’s trophy-laden memories cannot be taken away from the players following the club’s guilty verdict for 114 charges brought against them by the Premier League, according to former captain Kyle Walker.

At the end of last month, an independent commission found City guilty of all charges relating to serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules and the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the investigation.

The Citizens have been accused of arranging "sham" contracts with several commercial partners to disguise secret funding of more than £830m and artificially inflate revenues between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.

Man City have been left “disappointed and surprised” by the verdict, insisting that they are “innocent”, and they have subsequently lodged an appeal.

A wide range of potential sanctions have been mooted for City, including heavy fines, transfer bans, points deductions leading to relegation, expulsion from the Premier League and stripping titles.

Walker spent eight years at the Etihad Stadium from 2017 to 2025, winning 17 trophies under Pep Guardiola including six Premier League titles and the Champions League as part of a historic treble in 2022-23.

Walker: ‘They can't take the glory days away from us’

While Walker – who now plies his trade at Championship side Burnley – has admitted that the guilty verdict “doesn’t look great” for City, he has insisted that the glory days cannot be taken away from the players.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Walker said: "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.

"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.

"So, whatever will be, will be, and it's just down to the appeal now and what goes from there."

Walker has acknowledged that this subject is not easy for former Man City stars to discuss, adding: "It's something that we probably don't want to talk about because we want to be looked upon as winning them trophies, winning them the right way.

"It's very difficult because we've worked very hard for them, and not just us, I look at the fans as well.

"I look at the fans that have travelled up and down the country, travelled abroad to Istanbul when we won the treble and stuff like that, and they deserve that night as well."

Akanji on Man City case: “I hope I don’t lose my titles”

Meanwhile, fellow treble-winning defender Manuel Akanji has said that he has been told to “stay calm” over Man City’s situation and has revealed that he remains in contact with some of his former teammates.

As quoted by Nau.ch, Akanji said: "I’m still in touch with a few Man City players, but I don’t know any more than you do.

“We were told to stay calm, that they had everything under control and nothing major had happened. I trust the people in charge at Man City - that’s the case.

"I hope I don’t lose my titles. That would be a bit of a shame, but I’m only seeing it in the news.”

Asked whether the titles he won were in danger of being stripped away, Akanji cryptically replied: "Who knows what else they'll find out. After all, you’re still looking for things related to the coronavirus that happened five years ago."

Akanji joined City in 2022 and won seven trophies with the club, including two Premier League titles, before joining Inter Milan on an initial loan deal that became permanent this summer.