Jamie Carragher has publicly argued that Manchester City ought to have any trophies won during the period in which the club has been adjudged guilty of serious financial rule violations stripped away, and that the club’s owners should be removed from their positions of authority. The Premier League’s independent commission recently concluded that City breached its financial regulations on every count, a finding that the club continues to reject. In a video address to players and staff, chief executive Ferran Soriano dismissed the investigation as a "Premier League conspiracy theory" and confirmed that the club will lodge an appeal, with a deadline of Friday, 2 October, to do so.
The sanctions relate to a span of nine seasons, from 2009/10 through 2017/18, during which Manchester City collected three Premier League crowns, one FA Cup, three League Cups and a Community Shield. Carragher, who works as a pundit for Sky Sports, said, "I do think Manchester City's titles they've won in this time, or trophies, should be taken off their list." He stopped short of endorsing the automatic transfer of those honours to the runners‑up, noting that the primary injustice lies in the emotional experience of winning, which he believes has been stolen from the players, clubs and supporters affected by City’s conduct. "Whether other clubs should get them is slightly different," Carragher explained.
"But what Manchester City have done is, they've not just hurt their own players in terms of no one looks at their trophies and medals now in the same way..." He went on to describe the personal significance of a medal: "I've been very lucky to win a few medals. I never look at the medal years later. But my mind goes back to a moment, I get a feeling in my stomach. I remember the referee blowing a final whistle of a big game.
Those players will never get that feeling and it was robbed by Manchester City. That's what they haven't got. I don't think any player will care if you go and give them a medal, and he puts it in the house, in his trophy room, he'll never look at it.
It's not about medals, it's about feelings, and that's what Manchester City have robbed." Carragher stressed that while he expects the club itself to face penalties, the owners must also be held accountable. "The club are going to get punished," he said. "You've got supporters, players, the club and owners. For me this is all about the owners, the people who are at the top of the club." He questioned how the owners could remain in English football after a decade of alleged misconduct, referencing the "fit and proper" test that governs club proprietors.
"What they've done for 10 years – and left this stain that will be there for the next 10 years – it starts because they don't like the word no," Carragher argued. "They have so much power and finance behind them, nobody ever tells them no. Until they move away from the club, I don't know how this stain is removed from the club." Despite acknowledging that Manchester City will likely rebuild and continue fielding strong squads, Carragher expressed doubt that the current ownership could survive the fallout.
"City will move on – they will have great teams in the future. But I don't see how the ownership can continue after what's happened here and their reaction to it.
How can they be surprised? They've got irrefutable evidence – well where is it?
Put it out there," he said. He also reflected on why he was not surprised by the verdict. "I'm shocked but also not surprised. I always felt they were guilty for two simple reasons.
It would be impossible for Man City ever to have the commercial revenue of Liverpool, Man Utd or Real Madrid. They said for years they had that type of income coming in. It's impossible for that to ever happen, no matter how successful Man City are. And number two, as they said yesterday and have continually said over this period, 'they've done nothing wrong, they have irrefutable evidence'.
Every man and his dog knows if you're charged by the police and had irrefutable evidence it would be over in a day or a week – this has dragged on for years. This idea that nothing has gone on and it has dragged on this long tells you something was there." Carragher praised the Premier League for securing a decisive outcome on the 114 out of 115 charges brought against the club, calling the result "convincing" and a "huge well done" for the governing body. He believes the decision sends a clear message that financial misconduct will not be tolerated, regardless of a club's financial clout.
When asked about the impact on the legacy of Manchester City's most celebrated players from that era, Carragher expressed empathy for them. "I'd be furious and I actually feel for the Man City players," he said.
"As a team, what they've done is wrong. The Premier League have called it a sham five times in their statement. But in terms of individual players, some of them are coming out to bat for the club, that's normal right now.
It must be very difficult for them to see anything that's going on and to almost feel like a lot of their career is going to have an asterisk with it, or people are just going to call it a sham." He singled out Kevin De Bruyne as an example of a world‑class talent whose reputation could be tarnished by the scandal. "He could have played for any team in the world and he still would have been one of the best players.
He was fantastic. But he chose his club to be Manchester City.
Now, one of those reasons he may have chosen, maybe was his wages, that maybe were inflated because of the situation around Man City and what they've been charged with. But if he sits there at the end of his career now and the whole world looks at his Manchester City career of 10 years of service and look at it as a sham, I'd be furious. Absolutely furious that around the world people are looking at my career like that because of what's going on upstairs." Carragher warned that the ongoing denial and what he described as "gaslighting" by the club's hierarchy could erode support from former players over time. He predicts a growing sense of frustration as the narrative surrounding their achievements becomes increasingly clouded by the financial controversy.
In summary, Carragher calls for a two‑pronged response: the removal of titles earned under illicit financial practices and the ousting of the owners who oversaw those practices. He believes this is essential to restore integrity to English football and to ensure that the emotional joy of winning is preserved for those who earned it honestly.