I prefer to laugh a little: Jose Mourinho delivers cheeky Man City put-down after guilty verdict

Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has fired a dig at Manchester City following their guilty verdict for serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules.

State of play

Last month, the Premier League confirmed that an independent commission had found City guilty of all charges related to serious financial breaches.

In their statement, the Premier League noted that City had entered into “sham” agreements designed to artificially inflate the club’s revenues over a nine-season period.

The governing body revealed the sheer magnitude of the financial irregularities, which climbed beyond £900 million. The statement partly read, “The purpose of these schemes was found to have been to artificially inflate the club’s revenues, and reduce its costs, by more than £900 million during the affected period, to appear to comply with financial rules.”

“The consequence of this, as the Commission found, was that the club filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators. The Commission concluded that ‘by its conduct the club clearly intended to circumvent the PL Rules.’”

City have since lodged an appeal as they continue to stress their innocence.

Speaking about the situation, City boss Enzo Maresca claimed that the club’s titles are “absolutely not” tainted. He reiterated his faith in the club’s owners and his belief that they will win their appeal against the verdict.

Various punishments have been mooted for City, including heavy fines, severe points deductions, expulsion from the Premier League, and stripping of all titles won during the period in question.

Mourinho, who finished second with United behind City, addressed the guilty verdict and quipped that he would be fortunate to live long enough to see the case’s final outcome.

Mourinho taunts City

The current Real Madrid manager remarked, “I prefer to laugh a little, because I think we’ll have an ending.”

“We will have an ending. But the two of us, who are nearing 60, should be lucky enough to be here when the final verdict is delivered.”

“Because now the sentence will come, and after a year, there will be an appeal.”

Meanwhile, United are next in action on Saturday when they host Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford.

Featured image Ahmad Mora via Getty Images