Akanji fears losing City titles as Walker backs club after 114-charge guilty verdict

Manuel Akanji has admitted he fears losing his Manchester City medals after an independent commission found the club guilty of 114 of 115 charges of breaching Premier League financial rules, with the verdict covering a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018.

The commission ruled that City used “sham” contracts to disguise funding worth more than £830 million. City are contesting the verdict and have launched an appeal, insisting they hold “irrefutable evidence” that will clear their name.

Akanji, who joined City in 2022 — four years after the period the allegations relate to — and helped the club win two Premier League titles, the Champions League and the FA Cup before moving to Inter Milan in 2025, said he has been told little beyond what has appeared in the press.

“I’m still in touch with a few players, but I don’t know any more than you do,” the Swiss international told Nau. “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 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 all in the news, too. Who knows what else they might dig up.”

The commission has the power to relegate City, impose unlimited fines, hand out points deductions or enforce transfer bans. Retrospectively stripping the club of titles won during the nine-year period is considered very unlikely.

Kyle Walker, who played for City from 2017 to 2025 and was part of squads that won six Premier League titles, the Champions League, two FA Cups, the Club World Cup and four Carabao Cups, was more measured in his public response.

“Obviously it doesn’t look great,” Walker said. “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.”

City chief executive Ferran Soriano addressed club employees after the verdict, claiming it rested on “a single false accusation” which he said supports “the Premier League’s conspiracy theory” against the club. Former manager Pep Guardiola is set to attend City’s Champions League fixture against Paris Saint-Germain as a public show of solidarity with the club.