Walker insists Man City's glory years cannot be stripped despite guilty verdict

Kyle Walker has insisted that Manchester City’s trophy-laden era remains untouchable for the players who lived it, speaking publicly for the first time since an independent commission last week found the club guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules between 2009-10 and 2017-18. City have since lodged an appeal against the ruling.

Walker, who spent eight years at the Etihad from 2017 to 2025 and is now at Burnley, acknowledged the verdict “doesn’t look great” but was careful to avoid commenting on the legal specifics. “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,” he said.

The right-back was more forthcoming on the human cost for those who wore the shirt. “The lads, we spent many and many a great year celebrating many trophies and everything like that, and that’s something that, whatever happens, they can’t take away from us because we’ve experienced them nights,” he said. “Whatever will be, will be, and it’s just down to the appeal now.”

Walker won the Champions League and 12 major domestic honours during his time at City, including the 2022-23 treble sealed in Istanbul — a night he specifically referenced when speaking about the club’s supporters. “I look at the fans that have travelled up and down the country, travelled abroad to Istanbul when we won the treble and stuff like that, and they deserve that night as well.”

The independent commission’s findings were sweeping in scope. It concluded that more than £830 million of owner funding was used to inflate revenues and allow the club to comply with Premier League and UEFA financial regulations through a series of arrangements it described as “sham” — spanning nine years in total.

City rejected the verdict in full. In a statement issued last Friday, the club said the ruling “contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe,” adding that “a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions.”

Walker conceded the subject is uncomfortable for former players who feel their achievements are now under scrutiny. “It’s something that we probably don’t want to talk about because we want to be looked upon as winning them trophies, winning them the right way,” he said. “It’s very difficult because we’ve worked very hard for them.”