Enzo Maresca has said his Manchester City players “don’t care about the noise” surrounding the club, while Erling Haaland has called for unity after City were found guilty of serious breaches of Premier League financial rules.
The club maintain their innocence and have launched an appeal against the ruling, but should that appeal fail they could face a severe punishment. Maresca and his players reconvened on Thursday after spending the international break apart, meeting collectively for the first time since news of the club’s predicament was made public. Players have sought reassurance about the future of the club.
“Personally I’m very calm to be honest,” Maresca told the club’s official website. “The club has been quite clear. We trust completely the club. We understand the noise but the focus for us is just what we can control and we can control just the football side.”
City have started life under Maresca with five straight Premier League wins and sit top of the table, but that on-field success has been overshadowed by events off it. Their first match in three weeks comes on Sunday, when they travel to Anfield to face Liverpool in what is expected to be a fiery encounter.
“The feeling is fantastic, to be honest,” Maresca said. “The players are excited for the next two games. But especially they are excited because in this moment we are top of the league. The players are just focused on that. They know what we can control is the football side – they are not worried at all about different things. They know their profession and they know that the noise is there but they don’t care too much about the noise. They are just focused in this moment on how we can beat Liverpool and how, together with the fans, we can try to win in Anfield.”
Haaland, meanwhile, spoke of the need for everyone associated with the club to pull together. “We have to stick together,” the striker told Sky Sports News. “We have to stay with each other, and we have to stay positive. No matter what happens in life, we always have to have a smile. So we have to stay positive, look ahead, and try to win football games and try to enjoy the situation and win the game. We have to stick together; we have to spread the love to each other. So yeah: stick together, and enjoy the ride and smile.”
The Norwegian is following in the footsteps of his father, Alf-Inge, who played for City in a less successful era, and so has witnessed the changes that have come since the takeover in 2008. “I care a lot about City, I have to say,” he said. “I care a lot about the fans because I’m a fan myself and I feel with them as well.”
Pep Guardiola is expected to attend City’s first home match since they were found guilty, when they face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday. It would be the former head coach’s first return since leaving in the summer after 10 years, and his attendance is regarded as a show of support for City’s hierarchy following the verdict that has rocked the club.
Guardiola wrote on social media last week: “I want every single fan to know I am here; more than ever. I am, always have been, always will be, behind my club, my owner, my chairman, Ferran [Soriano, the chief executive], the players, staff, Enzo [Maresca] and you, our unique supporters. Let me be clear: we will get through this together. I love you all.”
The Catalan took on a role as a City Football Group ambassador when he departed as head coach. He was a close ally of Soriano, who brought him to Manchester, the pair having worked together at Barcelona. Guardiola faced regular questions during his tenure over City’s financial conduct after the club were charged by the Premier League in 2023, and always reiterated his belief in what he was told by those above him.
His former Real Madrid rival José Mourinho, meanwhile, joked that he may not live to see the end of City’s legal battle. Mourinho managed Manchester United from 2016 and led them to a second-placed Premier League finish behind Guardiola’s City in 2018. “I would rather laugh about it,” Mourinho said when asked about the case in an interview with Italy’s Corriere dello Sport. “I think we will eventually get an ending, but we are both in our 60s [Guardiola is actually 55] and we’ll need to be lucky enough to still be around when the final verdict arrives. There will be a verdict, then appeals, then more appeals.”