Carragher calls for Man City to be stripped of titles and owners removed

Jamie Carragher has delivered a blunt verdict on the Manchester City case. The former Liverpool centre-back believes the punishment should strike at the heart of the club: removing the trophies won during the years under investigation and forcing the current owners out. For the Sky Sports analyst, the stain left by this episode will not fade while the same people remain in charge.

• The Premier League confirmed that City were found guilty on the majority of the 115 financial charges.
• The commission identified sham contracts and income overstated by more than £830 million across eight seasons.
• Carragher wants the trophies from that period removed, though he is unsure they should be handed to the runners-up.
• The former defender says he cannot see how the ownership can continue in English football.
• The club has announced it will appeal and has until Friday 2 October to do so.

What the independent commission ruled on Manchester City

The commission appointed after a four-year investigation examined the charges covering the period between 2009 and 2018. Its conclusion was emphatic: City used sham contracts with several commercial partners and declared income far above the real figures. The gap exceeds £830 million over eight seasons.

The ruling leaves the current Premier League leaders in a difficult position. Chief executive Ferran Soriano described the process as a conspiracy theory against the club in a message to players and staff. While City prepare their appeal, the noise around the case continues to grow.

Carragher urges Manchester City to lose titles from that era

I do think Manchester City's titles they've won in this time, or trophies, should be taken off their list.

During the period under scrutiny, the Manchester club lifted three Premier League titles, one FA Cup, three League Cups and one Community Shield. Carragher is clear about the first part of the punishment: those honours should no longer sit next to the club's name. He is less certain about where they should go.

The former defender does not believe handing them to the runners-up would repair the damage. His argument goes deeper than a medal placed on a shelf. He talks about feelings, about the memory of a final whistle in a big game, about what no transferred trophy can ever give back to the players who missed out.

Carragher's message to Manchester City players

Carragher put himself in the shoes of the current squad and of those who defended the club in recent years. He said he would be furious if he had fought for the badge and now had to live with this stain on his career. For him, the damage does not only hurt rivals: it also hits the players who celebrated those successes.

He insisted that no player looks back at their medals years later. What stays is the moment, the emotion of winning a title. And that emotion, in his view, was taken away from other teams by the practices now punished.

Manchester City owners under fire from the former defender

Beyond the trophies, Carragher is targeting the top of the club. He believes the punishment should focus on the owners and executives who ran City during those years. His message is direct: he does not see how the current ownership can remain in English football after what has happened.

Until they move away from the club, I don't know how this stain is removed from the club.

The analyst pointed to the fit and proper owners test and questioned how it can be passed after a decade marked by these irregularities. He was also critical of Soriano's response, describing his words as hard to believe. In his view, the group's financial power has created a dynamic in which nobody ever tells them no.

Carragher does not question Manchester City's history or its future. He recognises it is a century-old club and that it will continue to build great teams. But he separates the institution from those currently leading it and believes the departure of the present management is the only way to start cleaning up the project's image.

Manchester City appeal and the next steps in the case

The club has firmly rejected the ruling and confirmed it will lodge an appeal. The regulations grant time to formalise it, with Friday 2 October as the deadline. A new phase will then open to review the independent commission's decision.

While the process plays out, Pep Guardiola's side continues to compete at the top of the table. The unknown is what sporting and financial consequences will ultimately be imposed, and whether the voices calling for exemplary sanctions will find support in the next stages.