Roy Keane has sharply criticised Rodri after Manchester City‘s World Cup-winning midfielder said he still believes in the club’s “innocence,” even after City were reportedly found guilty of breaching 114 of the 115 financial charges brought against them by the Premier League.
The report from The Athletic threatens serious sanctions for City, who are expected to appeal. It also reignites a long-running saga that has hung over the club since the charges were first announced in February 2023. The situation now falls to new head coach Enzo Maresca to navigate as he begins life at the Etihad Stadium following Pep Guardiola’s departure at the end of last season.
Rodri stands by the club he helped make history
Speaking ahead of Spain’s Nations League meeting with England on Saturday, Rodri was asked directly about the charges and gave an unequivocal response in support of his former club, where he spent nine trophy-laden seasons before his release this summer.
“They always express the confidence that they never did something wrong, and we believe in that,” he said. “Until the moment they are proved wrong, we will believe the club. They always tell us the confidence they have on the innocence.”
The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner went further, insisting that whatever the outcome of the process, nothing could diminish what he and his team-mates achieved on the pitch during City’s dominant run of six Premier League titles and a maiden Champions League triumph.
“What we did, they cannot take out of us. It’s something that is not paid by money. It’s paid with effort, with the damage, with, you know, being shoulder to shoulder every day,” he said.
“I can tell you that everything was deserved, and I’m glad that I could live one of the best eras of English football in here.”
Keane fires back says Man City ‘chose to cheat’
Roy Keane, working as a pundit for ITV on Saturday, was given little time to reflect before he was asked for his reaction — and he did not hold back, directly rejecting Rodri’s framing of the situation.
“It’s about time,” Keane said. “It has obviously been going on a long time now. I would disagree with Rodri’s messages there. It was the club’s choice – they chose to cheat.”
The former Manchester United captain, never one to soften his views when it comes to City, argued that the scale of the finding left no room for ambiguity over what should follow.
“Whatever they have won over the last few years, they deserve to be punished. Where we start and finish with that is difficult but they were cheating.
“They’ve been found guilty of it and they have to take their medicine now,” Keane added, before admitting even he had been taken aback by the extent of the ruling: “It was a shock to be found guilty of so many of the charges.”
City, for their part, have maintained the same position they have held since the charges were first laid three and a half years ago.
In a statement released on Friday, the club said the Premier League process “remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed, and is subject to strict confidentiality,” adding that its stance “remains consistent with the Club’s statement of February 2023.”
City also said they had “diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League Board and Executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence.”
No sanctions have yet been confirmed, and City are widely expected to challenge the commission’s findings through an appeal, meaning the final consequences — whether points deductions, fines, or something more severe — could remain unresolved for some time.
Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has separately written to supporters restating his belief in the club’s innocence.
