By Adegboyega Adeleye
Former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney says his former club do not deserve to be awarded Premier League titles retrospectively if rivals Manchester City are stripped of them following their financial-rule breaches.
Rooney was part of the Manchester United side that finished runners-up to City in the 2011-12 Premier League season, but he says he would not feel comfortable receiving the title years later because United did not finish first.
City have been found guilty of the majority of the 115 charges brought against them by the Premier League, with the financial charges relating to the period from 2009-10 to 2017-18.
The club were also accused of failing to cooperate with Premier League investigations between December 2018 and February 2023.
Sanctions are yet to be announced, while City plan to appeal against the decision. One possible punishment could be the stripping of Premier League titles won during the period covered by the charges.
Speaking on the Stick to United podcast, Rooney said he would not want United to inherit City’s titles.
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable about accepting another Premier League medal if I’m being honest, because I don’t think we deserve it. We didn’t do enough that season to win the league,” Rooney said.
The former England international said he also considered the situation from the perspective of City’s players, who would have believed they had won the title on the pitch.
“If those players have got no understanding of what’s going on above them, then if that happened to me – if all of a sudden Manchester United have been doing the same and I’m getting my Premier League medals taken away from me – I’d be absolutely devastated,” he added.
Rooney also responded to suggestions from his former Manchester United teammates Rio Ferdinand and David de Gea that United should be awarded retrospective titles following City’s guilty verdict.
“When I’ve heard of ex-teammates and people saying, ‘we’ve won another medal’, I’m happy with the five I’ve won,” he said.
“I wouldn’t want this one just sat there… 15 years later or whatever it was you get a medal because City cheated. I wouldn’t feel comfortable.”
Rooney, however, believes City could face relegation as part of the eventual sanctions.
“I do think we’re going to see City getting relegated,” he said.
“I’d put them in the lowest league they can go in and then put restrictions on them in terms of how much money they can spend for the next three or four seasons.”
He suggested that a severe punishment could include relegation to League Two and points deductions over several seasons.
“If it’s Championship for a season, you could talk players round. I’d go as big as I can really,” Rooney said.
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