Scholes demands City titles as Gabriel holds Bayern Munich talks to force United exit

Paul Scholes has publicly demanded that Manchester City’s Premier League titles from 2009 to 2018 be handed to the runners-up if the club are found to have breached financial regulations, while teenage forward JJ Gabriel has held talks with Bayern Munich over a potential departure from Old Trafford.

Scholes, 51, posted on X that he wants a medal from the 2011/12 season — the campaign in which City pipped United to the title on goal difference on the final day — responding to suggestions from former teammates who wanted trophies stripped but not the accompanying medals. “Keep hearing ex-teammates say they want trophies taken off them, but they don’t want their medals… f that, I’m a greedy b***, I want my medal,” he wrote.

Arsenal legend Martin Keown pushed back on Scholes’s position during an appearance on talkSPORT, arguing that any medals received in such circumstances would feel “hollow” and that the seasons in question should simply be voided. “I just think it should be void. I think if we’re going to take away Man City’s trophies throughout that period it should be made void,” Keown said. Scholes was unimpressed, firing back at his former adversary on Instagram: “And you can do one with that ‘void season’ nonsense.”

City were found guilty of breaching the Premier League’s financial regulations over a nine-year period, a verdict that has reignited debate across the game about what an appropriate sanction would look like. A redistribution of titles would hand Scholes a 12th league medal.

Meanwhile, the situation surrounding JJ Gabriel is adding further pressure to manager Michael Carrick, who has overseen just one win from five Premier League games in his first full season in charge, along with an early Carabao Cup exit. Gabriel, who turned 16 on Tuesday, submitted a transfer request in September and has held firm on his desire to leave. Reports now indicate that his representatives have held discussions with Bayern Munich, with several other top European clubs also registering interest in the highly rated forward.

United are understood to hold Gabriel in extraordinarily high regard, making the prospect of losing him at such a young age a significant blow to the club’s long-term planning.