Stripping Man City Titles Would Be 'Arbitrary,' Says Ex-Player Mills

Former Manchester City defender Danny Mills has suggested that the club's players would not be significantly affected if their Premier League titles were stripped as a consequence of the team's alleged financial rule breaches. The club faces 114 charges from the Premier League related to alleged financial irregularities between 2009 and 2018, a period during which they won eight trophies.

City maintains its innocence and is appealing the verdict. If the appeal is unsuccessful, potential sanctions could include points deductions, relegation, or the revocation of titles. However, Mills, who played for City between 2004 and 2009, argued that such retrospective punishments would be an "arbitrary measure."

"You can't take away those moments from players and fans," Mills told Gambling.com. "It's very difficult retrospectively to go back and punish people where they've had all the accolades, they've had the open-top bus rides, the bonuses, the extended contracts - all those things off the back of it."

He added that attempting to rewrite history by nullifying past achievements would be impractical. "If you say City didn't win the title in 2019... yeah whatever, we know City won the Treble and four titles in a row. What are we suddenly going to go? Well, actually, they didn't win four titles in a row. You can't (do that), you can't take away the Treble, the Aguero moment. It's very difficult to rewrite the history books in that way."

Mills drew on his own experiences, stating that the physical medals hold little intrinsic value compared to the memories associated with winning them. "If you came round to my house tomorrow and said 'can I have your medal?' I'd say: 'Yeah, go on. I have to go find it but you can have it'," he explained. "The actual medal means nothing. It's a symbol of a memory. You can melt my medal down. You can do whatever you want with it but it doesn't mean I didn't win it."

He also opined that the current City squad would not be overly impacted by the off-field controversy as they prepare to face Liverpool. Mills suggested the situation could even serve as motivation. "I'd say: 'The world's against you, everybody hates you. Go out there and make them hate you even more by winning more football matches and don't let them get to you,'" he advised. "What will be will be in terms of the punishment, but it's not our fault."

Mills believes that while the squad will discuss the matter, it is unlikely to affect their performance on the pitch. "Of course the squad will talk about it but I don't expect it will affect the players once they cross the white line."