Kyle Walker has said the tattoo on his leg celebrating Manchester City’s four consecutive Premier League titles may have to go if the club are stripped of their honours.
The former City captain, now 36 and playing for Championship side Burnley, had the “four in a row” design inked after City completed an unprecedented sequence of league victories from 2021 to 2024. Walker won six Premier League medals during his eight years at the Etihad, from 2017 until 2025, and was handed the captaincy following the 2023 treble.
But the prospect of sanctions hanging over City has put an awkward edge on what was meant as a permanent reminder of the club’s finest domestic run. City have been found guilty of breaking 114 financial rules relating to the period between 2009 and 2018, with the club facing the possibility of a substantial points penalty that could send them down to the Championship. There remains the question of whether league titles could also be removed amid claims that the club manipulated accounts worth more than €1 billion through fictional contracts.
Walker said the issue did not look encouraging from the outside and accepted that it must be dealt with. Yet he maintained that the players want their achievements to stand, believing they earned them properly on the pitch.
“It is something we do not want to discuss because we want to be remembered for winning those trophies and doing it the right way,” Walker said.
He pointed to the scale of City’s achievement, noting that even Manchester United never managed four successive English league championships. “There are not many of us who can say we have won four in a row,” he said.
Asked whether the tattoo would need to be removed should City lose the titles, Walker admitted it was a distinct possibility. “I would probably have to take it off,” he said, while adding that he would rather keep it and hopes the club’s achievements remain intact.
Walker insisted the squad’s responsibility began and ended with their football. “As players, all we can say is that we went onto the pitch and tried to play our best as a team,” he said. “I will defend my team-mates for the rest of my life.”
For Walker, City’s run remains extraordinary regardless of the uncertainty surrounding it. “What we did over that period was incredible,” he said. “It is something that may never happen again.”
