Rodri believes in Man City’s ‘innocence’

Rodri, a former Manchester City midfielder, maintains that the club is innocent of any financial wrongdoing and remains fully trusting of City until proven otherwise. The Premier League recently found City guilty of breaching 115 financial rules, yet the team is planning to appeal the decision. At a press conference ahead of Spain’s UEFA Nations League match against England at Wembley, the 30-year-old, who moved to Barcelona in August, supported City’s stance.

Rodri stated, "They always express the confidence that they never did something wrong and we believe in that. Until the moment they are proved wrong, we will believe the club. They always tell us the confidence they have on the innocence." City was previously cleared of financial fair play charges by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2020, with a two-year ban from European competitions later overturned by UEFA.

Rodri referenced this previous case as evidence of the club's consistent innocence throughout judicial processes. He explained, "We had the example of 2020 that the process was the same and at the end nothing happened. We had a similar judicial process. Different accusation but similar process. There as well in the first instance we were found guilty, but we believed in the club and the innocence that the club maintained and in the end we ended up acquitted."

Thus, Rodri expressed his faith in justice and the club's innocence. Despite winning eight trophies during the period covered by the Premier League case, including three league titles, Rodri dismissed any suggestion of stripping City of their titles. He affirmed, "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. 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." Prime Minister Andy Burnham has urged people to "study" the independent commission’s report in "some considerable detail" before drawing any conclusions about the charges against Manchester City.

Burnham emphasized that the process has been "quite a contested process" and argued against jumping to conclusions, stating, "I would have to look at the report of the independent commission, and people shouldn’t jump to those kinds of conclusions."