Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard has publicly commented on the Manchester City guilty verdict handed down by the Premier League earlier this month.
City were found guilty of 114 of 115 counts of financial irregularities from 2009/10 to 2017/18, including inaccurate reporting, inflated revenue, concealed payments, breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations and failure to cooperate with the investigation.
The regulation breaches directly affected Liverpool’s 2013/14 Premier League campaign under Brendan Rodgers, in which they lost out on the title to Man City by two points after Gerrard’s infamous slip against Chelsea proved costly..
City’s cheating also had a knock-on effect as Jurgen Klopp’s Reds later lost the title to them in 2018/19 and 2021/22 by a single point.
“I wouldn’t want individual players to give stuff back,” said the former Liverpool captain on the Overlap Daily podcast.
“I don’t think that would be right. I wouldn’t accept anything. I’ve come to terms with where I am and what I achieved. But in terms of the club, they have to be stripped.
“There needs to be an example set historically, in my opinion, whether that’s an asterisk throughout all the years and their achievements.
“There needs to be, minimum, an asterisk. Because then it doesn’t matter whether the titles are stripped or not.
“As soon as that asterisk is there, everyone knows that happened because of what we all know happened.”
We are yet to find out the punishment the Premier League will hand down on Man City as the club attempt to appeal the decision and drag the case out for as long as possible.
