When Enzo Maresca was talking to Manchester City about taking over from Pep Guardiola, neither party raised the issue that seemed to be the elephant in the room: the 115 charges the Premier League had levelled in 2023. Or so the Italian said, anyway, which felt a significant omission. The day City seemed to think would never come has now arrived, the guilty verdict to 114 of those charges of breaching financial rules delivered, the word “sham” prominent in the 40-page explanation from the independent commission and the accusation a club cheated for years now prominent.
City, Maresca included, can face an uncertain future and a disputed past. An era in English football is being reappraised. If it may be awkward for some, from Omar Berrada to Mikel Arteta, if City’s trophies were taken away, Maresca denied they were tainted. “Absolutely not,” he said. He has his medals, from his role as Guardiola’s assistant in City’s all-conquering 2022-23 campaign. He feels they were earned. “The last time I was here was the treble season. I know the efforts from the players, from the club, from the manager in that time – Pep – so I know the effort the club put in to achieve that target. I don't have any doubts about that.”
