Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has suggested that Manchester City's players will be concerned about their own financial situation, but claimed that they are unlikely to be taking much notice of what is happening "upstairs" at the club.
The Blues were charged by the Premier League with over 100 alleged breaches of their financial rules earlier this week. As a result, manager Pep Guardiola had to answer numerous questions about the matter during his press conference on Friday - with the Catalan insisting that he trusts the club.
Understandably, the news has dominated the headlines this week, and United legend Ferdinand compared the situation at City to that of his own while with the Reds in the mid-2000s. The former England international suggested that the Blues players will be concerned about a few things following the charges.
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Speaking on BT Sport on Saturday, Ferdinand said: "I think the players will look at it and think, 'Are we going to stay in the competitions? We are hopefully not going to get a points deduction or be relegated. And am I getting paid?'
"That is the black and white of it from the players' point of view. You don't get involved in what is happening upstairs. I was at Manchester United with the Glazer stuff that was going on."
When discussing United being sold to the Glazers in 2005, he added: "You don’t really get engaged with that at all. The fans and players have a discrepancy, as a player you just want to get over the white line and win."
Ferdinand also insisted that Guardiola would not have delivered a passionate press conference if the City manager was not convinced that the club were innocent in the face of the charges levelled against them.
"It screamed to me that he'd had a real in-depth conversation with the powers that be and they have given him in no uncertain terms that they are innocent," he said. "And [they] have not broken any rules. I don’t see Pep Guardiola coming out – listen, he is an intelligent guy and is experienced enough in this game – he is not going to pin himself to something where there could be holes in that.
"I think the board and the owners have said, 'We are not guilty, stay with us, trust us. You have to come with us'. I think he has listened to that and said this is my family and I am going to stick with them."
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