Kyle Walker Considers Tattoo Removal Amid Man City Title Scandal
Manchester City defender Kyle Walker has stated he would likely remove his 'four in a row' tattoo if the club is stripped of its Premier League titles due to alleged financial breaches.
Kyle Walker has admitted he would likely remove his 'four in a row' leg tattoo if Manchester City is stripped of its Premier League titles. The defender, who won six league titles with the club, revealed the tattoo as a tribute to their record run of consecutive crowns from 2021 to 2024.
Daily Mail Sport has reported that City faces a potential significant points deduction, which could lead to relegation, after being found guilty of breaking financial rules between 2009 and 2018. The club's titles could also be revoked.
When asked by talkSPORT if he would remove the tattoo, Walker responded, "I'm probably going to have to do that." He added, "But you look at the likes of the great Man United squad, and they never managed to get four in a row. So there's only a select few of us that can say that we won four."
Maze Walker stated, "I'll try and keep it on, but hopefully we don't get the things taken away." He defended the players, saying, "As a player, all I can say is that all we did is go out and play our best football as a team and I will defend the players for the rest of my life. I feel that what we achieved in that space of time was probably incredible and probably won't be done ever again."
Walker, who joined City from Tottenham in 2017 and later became captain, acknowledged the external perception of the situation. "From the outside looking in, it doesn't look great and we have to address that," he said.
Manchester City maintains its innocence and is appealing the verdict from an independent panel that found the club guilty of numerous alleged financial breaches. The Premier League stated in a lengthy statement that City arranged "arranged 'sham contracts... to artificially inflate the club's revenues and reduce its costs," misrepresenting financial accounts to the tune of approximately £900 million.
According to the Premier League, these actions allowed City to "artificially inflate the club’s revenues" and consequently spend more under league rules. "Sham" deals funded by the Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), the club's owner, allegedly helped the club "record lower operating expenses than it actually incurred."
The Premier League asserts that these manipulations, aiming to comply with spending limits, resulted in the club filing "misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances." The league further noted that City was "significantly in breach of both the Premier League's and UEFA's spending limits" during the 2009-2018 period, during which the club won eight major trophies. Had the club reported accurately, it would have faced substantial breaches of spending regulations.
The panel also found that City failed to cooperate with the Premier League's four-year investigation, which was initiated after club emails were reportedly obtained by a hacker. The league accused City of "made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the PL investigation."