Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho during their time in charge of Premier League clubs Manchester City and Manchester United [File: Carl Recine/Reuters]By Kevin Hand and ReutersPublished On 8 Oct 20268 Oct 2026
Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho joked that he may not live to see the end of Manchester City’s legal battle with the Premier League after the club appealed against a ruling that found it guilty of serious financial rule breaches.
An independent commission found City guilty of all charges relating to breaches of Premier League financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, as well as three of four charges relating to failures to cooperate with the investigation. City have denied wrongdoing and lodged an appeal.
The Premier League said that City used “sham” commercial agreements to inflate revenue and understate costs by more than 900 million pounds ($1.19bn) over nearly a decade, resulting in inaccurate financial reporting and breaches of spending rules.
Mourinho managed Manchester United from 2016 to 2018 and led them to a second-placed Premier League finish behind Pep Guardiola’s City in 2017-18.
“I would rather laugh about it,” Mourinho said when asked about the case in an interview with Italy’s Corriere dello Sport.
“I think we will eventually get an ending, but we are both in our 60s, and we’ll need to be lucky enough to still be around when the final verdict arrives.
“There will be a verdict, then appeals, then more appeals.”
Mourinho has long maintained that one of his greatest achievements in football management was finishing second behind Guardiola’s side, given their spending power at the time.
The Portuguese manager, now 63, said in 2024 that he had not given up on being awarded a winner’s medal for the 2018 season.
“I think we still have a chance to win that league because maybe they punish Man City with points and maybe we win that league,” he quipped at a press conference ahead of a Europa League match against United with his then-club, Fenerbahce.
“Then they have to pay me the bonus and give me the medal.”
The appeal process will be conducted in private, and it remains unclear whether any sanctions would be imposed before it is heard, or whether any punishment would take effect immediately.
City, seeking a sixth successive league win, are top of the Premier League with 15 points from five matches and travel to Liverpool on Sunday.
Holders Arsenal entertain Leeds on Saturday, while United host Tottenham later the same day.
Mourinho’s Real Madrid trail fierce rivals and La Liga leaders Barcelona by six points, with five wins and two defeats from their seven league matches this season.
Both Barca and Real are in action on Saturday, with Getafe and Villarreal visiting, respectively.
