Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano has told his fellow European club bosses the already lengthy legal battle with the Premier League will take “a lot more time” to conclude. News broke on Friday that City had been found guilty of all but one of 115 charges they faced of breaching the league’s financial rules, immediately sparking speculation they could face unprecedented sanctions.
City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak told supporters in an open letter published on Saturday that the club were “confident” of proving their innocence, and chief executive Soriano addressed the elephant in the room when he met fellow members of the European Football Clubs board in Copenhagen on Monday, as reported by ESPN.
The Press Association understands Soriano said at the end of the EFC board meeting that he felt he had to say something given Friday’s news, that City disagreed with the ruling but remained confident of winning and that the club were still fighting.
Sources in the meeting said Soriano then remarked: “It’s taken eight years to get here, and it’s going to take a lot more time.” The “eight years” Soriano referred to was the opening of the league’s investigation into City in 2018.
Soriano, who declined to answer media questions as he exited the meeting, made the comments in the presence of some other English top-flight bosses, with Manchester United’s chief of international football relations Jean-Claude Blanc and Everton owner Dan Friedkin — there in his capacity as owner of Roma — also attending the meeting in the Danish capital.
Among the alleged breaches, all strenuously denied by City, was a charge of failing to provide full details of former manager Roberto Mancini’s pay between 2009-10 and 2012-13.