Man City charges: Mourinho jokes Premier League case will outlast him

By Kevin Hand and Reuters. Published On 8 Oct 20268 Oct 2026.

Key points

• Mourinho managed Manchester United from 2016 to 2018 and led them to a second-placed Premier League finish behind Pep Guardiola's City in 2017-18.
• The Portuguese manager, now 63, remarked in 2024 that he had not given up on being awarded a winner's medal for the 2018 season.
• City, seeking a sixth successive league win, are top of the Premier League with 15 points from five matches and travel to Liverpool on Sunday.
• While United host Tottenham afterwards the same day, holders Arsenal entertain Leeds on Saturday.
• Both Barca and Real are in action on Saturday, with Getafe and Villarreal visiting, respectively.

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho joked that he may not live to see the end of Manchester City's legal battle with the Premier League after the club appealed against a ruling that discovered it guilty of serious financial rule breaches.

As well as three of four charges relating to failures to cooperate with the investigation, an independent commission discovered City guilty of all charges relating to breaches of Premier League financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons. City have denied wrongdoing and lodged an appeal.

According to The Premier League, city employed "sham" commercial agreements to inflate revenue and understate costs by more than 900 million pounds ($1.19bn) over almost a decade, resulting in inaccurate financial reporting and breaches of spending rules.

"I would rather laugh about it, " Mourinho remarked when asked concerning the case in an interview with Italy's Corriere dello Sport.

I think we will eventually obtain an ending, but we are both in our 60s, and we'll need to be lucky enough to still be around when the final verdict arrives. There will be a verdict, then appeals, then more appeals.

Mourinho has long maintained that one of his greatest achievements in football management was finishing second behind Guardiola's side, given their spending power at the time.

Notably, the Portuguese manager, now 63, remarked in 2024 that he had not given up on being awarded a winner's medal for the 2018 season.

"I think we still have a chance to win that league because maybe they punish Man City with points and maybe we win that league, " he quipped at a press conference ahead of a Europa League match against United with his then-club, Fenerbahce.

"Then they have to pay me the bonus and give me the medal."

Meanwhile, the appeal process will be conducted in private, and it remains unclear whether any sanctions would be imposed before it is heard, or whether any punishment would take effect immediately.

Mourinho's Real Madrid trail fierce rivals and La Liga leaders Barcelona by six points, with five wins and two defeats from their seven league matches this season.

For now, man City charges: Mourinho jokes Premier League case will outlast him remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.