Akanji hopes Manchester City trophies survive financial ruling

Manuel Akanji says he does not know what will happen to Manchester City’s trophies after the club was found guilty of breaching Premier League financial regulations, but the Inter Milan defender hopes he can retain the honours he won with the club.

Manchester City have appealed against the findings of an independent commission, which concluded that the club had broken the league’s financial rules.

The commission said City had entered into “sham” contracts with commercial partners between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons as part of what it termed a “disguised funding scheme”. It found that the arrangements artificially increased the club’s reported revenues by 830 million pounds.

Akanji was not at Manchester City during the period examined by the commission. However, he made 136 appearances for the club between 2022 and 2025, winning two Premier League titles, the FA Cup, the Community Shield, the Champions League, the Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup.

The case has prompted questions about what could happen to Manchester City’s honours if the findings are upheld. Akanji, who is now with Inter, said he had seen the developments in the news but was not allowing the situation to affect his current work.

“Yeah, I am still in touch sometimes with my friends from Man City,” he said at a Champions League press conference on Monday.

“But obviously, I’m not so much worried about what’s going on there. My full focus is here at Inter.

“I see everything that you see in the news and what’s coming up. I don’t know what’s going to happen but hopefully I can keep my titles, that’s the most important thing to me!”

Akanji initially joined Inter on loan from Manchester City for the 2025/26 season and helped the Italian club win both Serie A and the Coppa Italia.

The Switzerland international will now prepare for Inter’s Champions League match against Club Brugge on Tuesday. The game will be played at San Siro Stadium in Milan.

Manchester City are also involved in a significant European fixture on Wednesday, when they host Paris Saint-Germain at the Etihad Stadium.