Manchester United manager Michael Carrick has said Manchester City’s financial case raise many questions.
Carrick said he’s affected personally, admitting that he still has questions about the Premier League champions’ alleged breaches of financial regulations.
Carrick, 45, said the case had raised several questions and called for a speedy resolution, amid uncertainty over whether City could face sanctions if their appeal against the findings of an independent commission fails.
An independent commission found City guilty of charges relating to breaches of Premier League financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons. The club has appealed against the decision.
Carrick was part of the Manchester United team that finished behind City in the 2011-12 Premier League season, when Sergio Aguero scored a dramatic injury-time winner against Queens Park Rangers to secure City’s first league title in 44 years.
He was also part of Jose Mourinho’s squad when United finished runners-up to City’s side managed by Pep Guardiola in 2017-18. He later served on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s coaching staff when United finished second in the 2020-21 campaign.
As reported by BBC Sport on Friday, speaking about the possibility of titles being reassigned if City are sanctioned, Carrick said receiving a winners’ medal years later would not replace the emotions associated with winning a trophy at the time.
“In football, the strive to win, the emotion and the feeling about winning, a lot of it is in the moment,” he said.
“You can’t take that back. It’s the moment you strive for. That’s essentially what we’re all in it for. That’s the feeling we all crave.”
He added that the journey towards winning a trophy and the emotions surrounding the final outcome could not be recreated years later.
“The beauty of trying to win trophies is a little bit the journey towards it and then the finale. Does it go for you, does it go against you? Once that’s done, there’s no getting that back in any direction,” Carrick said.
The United boss said he would reserve further comments on whether titles should be reassigned until the case had been concluded.
“It’s thrown up a lot of questions. Some had answers, some haven’t,” he said.
“Certainly, I’ve got my own questions about it. It’s affected me personally in different ways over a period of time.”
Carrick stressed the importance of resolving the case as soon as possible, describing it as an unprecedented situation with significant implications for English football.
“As it’s still not finalised, I think I’ll hold that one until later on,” he said, referring to the question of reassigned titles.
“What I will say is that the sooner it gets sorted, for everyone’s benefit, is essential.
“It’s unprecedented, a unique situation to be in at this level, with such a huge impact in so many ways. We all need to know what’s going to happen.”
Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca has said he trusts the club, while the outcome of City’s appeal remains pending.
Meanwhile, Manchester United supporters have revived a banner at Old Trafford highlighting the years since City’s last trophy before the club’s takeover by Sheikh Mansour.
The banner was first displayed in 2000, when City had gone 24 years without silverware following their 1976 League Cup triumph. Supporters updated the figure annually until 2011, when City ended the drought by defeating Stoke City in the FA Cup final.
