Awkward moment Graham Potter tries to make a joke about Man City’s guilty verdict – but Arsenal star Viktor Gyokeres can’t hide his smirk
Sweden manager Graham Potter poked fun at Manchester City in a press conference, with Arsenal forward Viktor Gyokeres looking on with a smirk on his face.
The official verdict was released on Tuesday afternoon, which showed City had cooked the books to the tune of nearly £900million through money artificially pumped into the club by their Abu Dhabi owners over a nine-year period.
City have denied any wrongdoing, and have confirmed they have appealed.
But that hasn’t stopped fans having a pop at the Manchester club, and Potter, who was manager of Chelsea between 2022 and 2023, has done the same.
‘We’ve been hit by an infection or a bug, whatever,’ he said ahead of Sweden’s Nations League game against Bosnia and Herzegovina. ‘Not ideal, but it happens.
‘We’ve called in some players who have been fantastic. In terms of how many withdrawals, I think we have had a similar number to Man City’s charges.’
He later clarified: ‘It was a joke.’
Arsenal’s Victor Gyokeres (right) was unable to hide his amusement after Sweden manager Graham Potter joked about Manchester City’s charges
Gyokeres, meanwhile, was sat next to Potter as the player chosen to take part in the press conference, and could hardly hold back his smile as his manager made the jibe.
Gyokeres is contracted to City’s rivals, Arsenal, who could benefit from any punishment handed to City.
The Manchester club came second to the Gunners in the Premier League race last year, and any points deduction or transfer ban imposed will play majorly in Arsenal’s favour.
City said in a statement on Friday: ‘The club’s firm position is that, on multiple grounds, the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe.
‘The club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case.
‘We will continue to respect due process and are necessarily restricted in what we can say further until all proceedings are complete.’
New Premier League rules state that a hearing must be held within 12 weeks of an appeal being lodged, with a decision due within 30 days of the hearing, which can only last five days, concluding.
Daily Mail Sport reported on Thursday that City will attempt to prove their innocence by arguing that the government of Abu Dhabi – rather than the club’s owners – part-funded ‘sham’ sponsorship.
The club’s ‘disguised funding’ process – where the ownership group topping up commercial partnerships to the tune of £830.69m – it found, allowed them to illegally sign the players that ushered in an era of success at the Etihad Stadium.
City have appealed their guilty verdict of breaching ‘all charges related to serious breaches’ of the Premier League’s financial regulations
However, those with knowledge of the situation claim that City’s argument is that the monies were actually paid by the government, which owns the sponsors, rather than the club’s owners Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) – a private company owned by Sheikh Mansour – and as such, no rules were broken.
Sponsorship deals with government-funded companies are commonplace throughout the Premier League, particularly in the case of airlines, and are not banned.
That argument, aided by what the club claim is ‘irrefutable evidence’ in the form of bank statements and witness accounts, is likely to be made in front of a new panel after City appealed the seismic findings.
