Manchester United are weighing what the Premier League’s findings against Manchester City might mean beyond the league table. With 114 of 115 charges found proven over alleged financial breaches between 2009 and 2018, Old Trafford has begun assessing whether those failures caused the club a measurable financial loss.
The focus falls naturally on two finishes behind their neighbours. United lost the 2011-12 title on goal difference after Sergio Agüero’s final-day winner for City, while José Mourinho’s side finished second again in 2017-18, 19 points behind Pep Guardiola’s champions.
Quick facts
- Manchester City have had 114 of 115 Premier League charges upheld, relating to the period from 2009 to 2018.
- United are examining potential economic damage connected to seasons in which they were beaten to major targets by City.
- Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool and United are reported to have preserved rights to seek compensation during the case.
- Potential punishment has been discussed in terms of a fine, points deduction or broader sporting sanctions.
- Former United figures David de Gea and Rio Ferdinand responded publicly with jokes about retrospective winners’ medals.
That 2012 finale remains one of English football’s most familiar pieces of theatre, though United’s interest now is less about the noise at the Etihad and more about the sums attached to finishing second. The club have reportedly completed an internal review of possible losses arising from the breaches found against City.
They are not alone in taking stock. Liverpool twice ended as runners-up to City under Jürgen Klopp, in 2019 and 2022, while Arsenal were second in 2023 and 2024. Tottenham are also understood to have considered their legal position.
Any move for damages would sit alongside the separate question of City’s ultimate punishment. A substantial financial penalty, a points deduction and more severe sporting measures have all been raised as possibilities. Removing titles has been discussed, although a deduction imposed once the sanction is delivered is presently viewed as the likelier route.
United’s former players did not wait for the legal paperwork. De Gea, who won the 2012-13 Premier League with the club, posted on 25 September 2026: “Right then, how many Premier League titles do I have now?”
Ferdinand took the joke further. He suggested another champions’ medal was heading for his cabinet, then floated medals for Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjær before arguing, with laughing emojis, that Ryan Giggs ought to be on 14 league titles.
Liverpool’s response carried a little more caution. Andrew Robertson, 32, said City’s players had proved themselves on the pitch and should not be blamed for matters beyond them. He said he did not know enough about the allegations, but called City an outstanding side and one he had enjoyed competing against.
José Enrique, the former Liverpool defender who spent five years at Anfield between 2011 and 2016, also joined the queue for a theoretical winners’ medal. For now, though, the medals remain a social-media gag; the financial and sporting consequences will depend on what follows from the decision.
