Jamie Carragher, the former Liverpool defender turned Sky Sports analyst, has argued that Manchester City ought to have all the trophies they collected during the period in which they were found guilty of serious financial rule violations stripped away, and that the club’s owners should be forced out of their positions. The claim comes after an independent commission concluded that City breached Premier League financial regulations on every count, a verdict the club continues to contest. City’s chief executive, Ferran Soriano, dismissed the findings as a "Premier League conspiracy theory" in a video addressed to players and staff, and the organization has announced its intention to appeal the decision before the deadline of 2 October. The controversy surrounds the years between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons, a span in which City secured three Premier League crowns, one FA Cup, three League Cups and a Community Shield.
"I do think Manchester City's titles they've won in this time, or trophies, should be taken off their list," Carragher said on Sky Sports. While he stopped short of insisting that the honours be reassigned to the runners‑up, he emphasized that the emotional significance of those victories has been stolen from the players, clubs and supporters who earned them. "Whether other clubs should get them is slightly different," he added.
"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…" Carragher reflected on his own experience of winning medals, noting that the physical object matters far less than the feeling that accompanies a hard‑won triumph. "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." Beyond the symbolic loss of silverware, Carragher insists that the owners must face personal consequences.
"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 argued that the long‑standing "fit and proper" test for owners should be applied rigorously, given the scale of the alleged wrongdoing. "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 warned.
"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." Carragher acknowledged that City will likely rebuild and continue to field strong squads, but he doubts that the current ownership can remain in English football after the scandal. "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 demanded.
He expressed both shock and a sense of inevitability regarding the Premier League's decision, noting that the governing body had to secure a near‑unanimous conviction to make the ruling credible. "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 its perseverance, stating that achieving a conviction on 114 of 115 charges required a robust case.
"A huge well done to the Premier League for the result it seems they have right now. For the Premier League to not just win this case but people talk about 114 charges out of 115 – they had to win it like that for it to be convincing," he said. When asked about the impact on the legacy of City's most celebrated players from that era, Carragher expressed empathy. He noted that while some former players continue to defend the club, many are likely feeling the weight of an asterisk on their achievements.
"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." He singled out Kevin De Bruyne as an example of a player whose reputation could be tarnished by association. "I think of Kevin De Bruyne, who's one of the greatest players I've ever seen.
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." Carragher warned that if De Bruyne's decade‑long stint at City is forever labelled a "sham," it would be a personal injustice to the player.
"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," he said.
He also criticized the club hierarchy for what he described as "gaslighting" – offering reassurances to current and former players while the investigation continues. "They've got such strong relationships with them, they want to believe it right now. I think the longer this goes on, the more you'll see less support from maybe ex‑City players and more frustration about maybe how their careers are going to be viewed by the outside world," Carragher concluded.
In summary, Carragher's stance is clear: Manchester City should lose the honours earned under questionable financial practices, and the owners who oversaw that era should be removed from power. He believes that while the club may eventually rebuild on the pitch, the moral and reputational damage inflicted on players, fans, and the wider football community cannot be undone without decisive action against both the trophies and the people at the top.