Manchester City teammates Erling Haaland and Ruben Dias have been spotted in deep conversation following their international match, just days after the club's guilty verdict.
Dias covered his mouth while Haaland shook his head after Portugal secured a Nations League victory against Norway on Sunday night.
At one point, Dias smiled while keeping his mouth obscured, and Haaland was seen making a quotation gesture with two fingers. There is no way to be certain what the players were discussing, but the club's future is likely to be a major topic following Friday's news.
Manchester City have been found guilty of 114 out of 115 charges for breaking the Premier League's financial regulations. The club now faces potential punishments that include massive points deductions, financial penalties, being stripped of previous titles or even relegation from the top flight.
Haaland misses media duties
Haaland had been scheduled to address the media in a press conference before the match against Portugal, but he was reportedly removed from the commitment.
When he signed for the club in 2022, the striker was asked about the investigation looming over the team. He replied: "No, I haven't thought of that or anything. I am confident that the club know what they are doing and I really don't think I should speak too much about this."
No current Manchester City players have yet spoken publicly about the verdict. The squad will have the chance to discuss the news when they reunite after the international break, with their next match scheduled away against Liverpool on October 11.
However, former midfielder Rodri previously defended the club ahead of Spain's recent 3-2 victory against England at Wembley. He said: "They [Man City] always express the confidence that they never did something wrong and we believe in that. Until the moment they are proved wrong, we will believe the club. They always tell us the confidence they have on the innocence."
A decade of alleged breaches
The club was formally charged by the Premier League in February 2023, and the hearing concluded in December 2024. The club released a statement that February insisting they were surprised by the charges.
The original 115 charges were eventually extended to a total of 130 following an administration issue, creating the most expensive and wide ranging case in English football history.
The Premier League accused the club of multiple financial rule breaches over a 14 year period, along with failing to cooperate with a subsequent investigation. A three man panel was tasked with considering the evidence. It was initially expected that a verdict would be reached within months, but the process has taken three and a half years.
The charges included failing to report accurate financial information for nine seasons between 2009 and 2018. The club was also accused of failing to provide full details regarding former manager Roberto Mancini's pay between 2009 and 2013, and failing to detail money paid to players between 2010 and 2016. Furthermore, they were found guilty of failing to cooperate with the probe from 2018 to 2023.
During the years mentioned in the charges, Manchester City won eight Premier League titles, one Champions League, four FA Cups and seven EFL Cups. Some of the breaches overlap with the start of the Pep Guardiola era, although the most serious charges end at 2018.
Guardiola and club maintain innocence
Manchester City have remained steadfast in maintaining their innocence across the eight years since the investigation began. Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak stated last week: "Our confidence and intent in proving the club's innocence is just as strong as when this began."
It is inevitable that the club will launch an appeal against the reported verdict.
Manager Pep Guardiola has also consistently defended the club's hierarchy. In May, he insisted he was fully convinced of their innocence, saying: "I trust them, I trust them. Because I spoke with them and I trust how they behave and how they did."
In 2022, Guardiola claimed he would quit if he felt the ownership had lied to him. He later stated in 2023 that he would not walk out on his contract even if the club was relegated to League One.
Origins of the investigation
The club vehemently denied any breaches of financial rules when the investigation started in December 2018. The probe began after German website Der Spiegel published documents from a Football Leaks cache, which had originated from Portuguese hacker Rui Pinto.
The documents alleged that Manchester City had overstated their sponsorship income, using money directly from the club's owners rather than from sponsors linked to Abu Dhabi. The leaks also suggested that Mancini's wages were doubled through a secret contract with an Abu Dhabi based club, and that rules were broken regarding approaches to young players.
In July 2021, it was reported that emails appeared to suggest millions were funnelled into the club by Abu Dhabi to help inflate income.
The club previously faced punishment from European governing body UEFA in February 2020. They were banned from the Champions League and fined 25 million pounds after they were found to have seriously misled the organisation and broken financial fair play rules. This ban was subsequently lifted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which also reduced the club's fine to 9 million pounds.
Staff left blindsided
Despite the ongoing investigation, the club spent 440 million pounds over the recent summer transfer window. This included equalling the British transfer record by signing Enzo Fernandez for 125 million pounds.
Staff at the City Football Academy reportedly learned about the guilty verdict through media reports rather than any official internal email. Some employees were initially left fearing for their jobs and asked senior managers for an explanation.
One employee, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said: "It felt like the club was completely blindsided."
