Neville asks to be removed from City commentary until financial verdict is settled

Gary Neville called on his employers to remove him from Manchester City commentary duties until the club’s appeal against Premier League financial rule breaches reaches a conclusion, making the request live during City’s victory over Liverpool at Anfield.

Neville was on co-commentary as City silenced the home crowd with three goals in 13 minutes from Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki, with the win coming after Ryan Gravenberch’s red card midway through the first half. Despite the clinical display, Neville found himself unable to offer unqualified praise.

“This is the first Manchester City game that I have done today since the charges or guilty verdicts were handed out a few weeks ago,” Neville said. “If you could take me off Manchester City games moving forward for the next few months until the verdicts have been heard, I would be absolutely delighted.”

Neville acknowledged the quality of the performance, singling out Gianluigi Donnarumma, Ruben Dias and Elliot Anderson for their first-half displays, but said the context of the charges made it impossible to assess the result in isolation.

“To come and win at Anfield is really difficult — we should be eulogising over them without a but or any hesitation, but there is that thing in the back of your mind,” he said. “At the end of the game it is quite hard because you are imagining basically if these guilty verdicts are confirmed in January or February then Manchester City are not going to be in the position they are in, and there is going to be a huge cloud hanging over the whole league.”

Neville and fellow pundit Jamie Carragher were careful to separate the players from the institutional issues, with Neville noting that the squad, staff and supporters “are blameless in all of this” and that any reputational damage attaches unfairly to them.

City’s appeals process is already under way, though a definitive conclusion is not expected for some months. A sanctions hearing is also ongoing, with the potential penalty understood to be the more immediate development to watch.