Former Manchester City midfielder Rodri has reaffirmed his faith in the club’s position over their financial case, saying he will continue to believe they are innocent unless the legal process proves otherwise.
City were found to have breached the majority of the Premier League’s financial rules covered by the case and are appealing the findings. Rodri, who left for Barcelona in August, was asked about the situation while on international duty with Spain ahead of their Nations League meeting with England at Wembley.
The 30-year-old pointed to UEFA’s separate case against City in 2020 as a major reason for his continued confidence in the club.
City were initially handed a two-year ban from European competition by UEFA for alleged financial fair play breaches, before the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the punishment on appeal.
Rodri backs Manchester City innocence and refuses to question club’s trophy record
Rodri said that experience shaped how City’s players viewed the current proceedings.
“We had the example of 2020 that the process was the same and at the end nothing happened.”
He added that the earlier case gave him reason to trust the club while the latest proceedings continue.
“I believe in the justice system, and I believe in the innocence of the club,” Rodri said.
The Premier League case covers a period in which City won eight trophies, including three league titles. Suggestions that those achievements could be affected by any eventual punishment were dismissed by Rodri, who argued that the work involved in winning them could not simply be erased.
“What we did, they cannot take out of us,” he said.
Rodri spent seven seasons at City after joining from Atletico Madrid in 2019, becoming a central figure in one of the most successful periods in the club’s history. He won four Premier League titles and the Champions League during his time at the Etihad before completing his move to Barcelona this summer.
His comments come with City’s appeal still unresolved, meaning the final outcome of the Premier League case remains subject to the legal process.
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