Enzo Maresca has insisted that Manchester City’s titles are “absolutely not” tainted, speaking at a news conference on Friday that was dominated by questions about the verdict handed down to the club by an independent commission.
City were found guilty of the majority of the 115 charges brought against them by the Premier League, with the commission finding them guilty of all charges relating to breaches of the competition’s financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons. The club have appealed against the ruling, claiming in a statement that it contained “clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe”.
Maresca, who appeared notably relaxed as he fielded the questions, rejected the idea that City’s achievements have been undermined by the ruling, saying he knows “exactly the effort that the club put in to achieve” them. He also reiterated both his faith in the club’s owners and his belief that City will win their appeal.
“The reason I joined this club is that I completely trust, 100%, the owner, the CEO, the sporting director, all the organisation. So I don’t have doubt about that,” he said. “I spoke with the club for sure. We all trust, and probably the right moment to speak about that is when we are going to win this appeal.”
Maresca was equally clear that his players’ attention remains on their own side of the operation. “For me, the players – we can control just the pitch side, the football side. So we are focused on that. This is what we can do and what we can control,” he added.
That focus now turns to Sunday, when City play their first match since the verdict was announced, away to rivals Liverpool. Speaking in an in-house interview on Thursday, Maresca said the “feeling is fantastic” among his players and that they are not affected by “the noise” surrounding the club. The City manager has won each of his first five Premier League games in charge.