Ander Herrera is spot on about Man City’s guilty verdict, their fans should take note

Ander Herrera won’t push to be rewarded with a Premier League winners’ medal, even if Man City are stripped of their silverware after being found guilty of breaching Premier League financial regulations. The former Manchester United midfielder raised a valid point about the rival club’s players that their fans should also take note of.

In the five years Ander Herrera spent at Manchester United, the highest Premier League finish came in the 2017/18 season. Jose Mourinho’s side were runners-up after finishing 19 points adrift of Man City.

We now know that the City team that were crowned champions was built on financial breaches, thanks to an independent commission. The state-owned club have yet to receive its punishment after appealing.

The biggest talking point around City right now stems from the punishment. Many players have come out and given their verdict on whether they would want to be sent the winners’ medals if City are to be stripped of all titles.

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City have been found guilty of breaching the Premier League’s financial rules on 114 occasions during the period from 2009 to 2018, though the club continue to protest their innocence. The most likely scenario is a points deduction, but waiting for the full picture has created a sense of uncertainty around league fixtures.

There was something very hollow about watching City beat Liverpool at Anfield last week. Rather than being upset by being put into this mess by their owners, City fans are lapping it up, with chants about being cheats. An awful ‘flex’.

Former United midfielder Herrera was asked by Rio Ferdinand about City potentially being stripped of all silverware between 2009 and 2018, and whether he wants to be rewarded for United’s efforts in 2017/18, when he said (via Rio Ferdinand Presents): “I don’t know if we deserve the trophy, but for sure, they don’t deserve to win it. If we want to…

“If we want to respect the Premier League, if the Premier League want to keep being respected all around the world, they have to do something. They cannot be blind in this. I don’t know if you will agree with me, but if I was a Man City player, I would be angry with my owners. I would be angry with my board, you know, because they have put all that I have done during these years in doubt.”

Herrera makes a valid point that has seemingly gone over the head of most City fans when discussing how he’d react if he played for the noisy neighbours during this period. They should be angry.

There would be mass protests if this happened at United, where the fans try to maintain high standards and expect the best of their club. It’s no wonder the ownership at United is incredibly unpopular.

Sheikh Mansour – and everyone else complicit – has so much to answer for. It’s the biggest scandal in English football history.