Former Man City Star’s Cryptic Comments Only Add to Chaos of the Situation

Former Manchester City center back Manuel Akanji has admitted he fears being stripped of the two Premier League titles he won with the club between 2022 and 2025 as he refused to rule out more rule breaches from the Cityzens.

City have been found guilty of breaking a large number of the Premier League’s financial rules between 2009 and 2018—four years before Akanji joined the club—and are still awaiting a punishment, which could include stripping City of the trophies won during that period.

The trophies won after the period in question, while built on questionable foundations, are not thought to be in danger, although Akanji confessed he could not rule out his own period at the Etihad Stadium attracting further scrutiny.

“I hope I don’t lose my titles,” said Akanji, who swapped City for Inter Milan this summer after spending last season on loan with the Italian side. “That would be a bit of a shame. But I only see everything in the news.”

Asked whether he felt his titles were in genuine danger, Akanji added: “Who knows what else they’ll find out. You’re still looking for things related to Corona that happened five years ago.”

Akanji’s final line was in reference to the recent investigation into Switzerland teammate Granit Xhaka, who admitted last month to obtaining a fake Covid-19 vaccination certificate back in 2022.

Could Man City Lose All Their Premier League Titles?

Manuel Akanji — Akanji won two Premier League titles with Man City. | Michael Regan/Getty Images

City have appealed the guilty verdict against them and hope to be proven innocent. If successful, that would end the fear of any punishment whatsoever.

However, if City are unsuccessful, they are expected to face enormous sanctions. Those could range anywhere from fines to points deductions and, crucially, stripping City of the titles won during the period in question.

It would appear that Akanji’s titles won during his later period with the club are safe, but the concern for City is that the Premier League rules also include the ability for the league to dish out “such other penalty as it shall think fit.”

The Premier League are, in essence, permitted to apply any punishment deemed suitable for the crime. If league officials decide City’s successes since 2018 is also tainted by what came before, they have the power to wipe more from the record.

At this point, the early suggestions are that any punishments would be forward-thinking, rather than looking back at the past, but until the appeal verdict comes in, Akanji is one of many simply left in the dark.

“We were told to remain calm, that they had everything under control, that nothing major had happened,” Akanji concluded. “I trust the people in charge at Man City that this is true.”

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