Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has promised to give some “very blunt views” on the Premier League charges facing the club in due course.
City were charged in February with more than 100 breaches of the competition’s financial fair play regulations dating back to 2009.
The club could face a points deduction or even expulsion from the competition if found guilty but City have vociferously denied any wrongdoing and vowed to fight their case. It is unclear how long this process will take with some suggestions proceedings could run for several more years.
Speaking in his annual end-of-season interview with the club’s media channels, Khaldoon said: “So obviously I can’t talk about them (the charges), unfortunately, for legal reasons.
“What I would typically always do is comment after, so I think we’re going to go through the legal process.
“These are proceedings that take whatever time they take and when we’re done, we’ll have a conversation. I’ll give you my very blunt views, I promise you that.
“I have very strong views on that, but I am going to be unfortunately very restrained today.”
City went on to win the treble last season. They overhauled Arsenal to claim a fifth Premier League title in six years, followed up by winning the FA Cup and then beat Inter Milan in the Champions League final.
Off the field the club have also grown, recording record revenue last year.
To many critics of the club, which is supported by the vast wealth of owner Sheikh Mansour, the Premier League charges cast a shadow over their success.
Khaldoon feels these people are judging the club too quickly without checking all the facts.
He said: “It’s very frustrating because it takes so much from the great work that’s happening at this club and it’s happening not just on the football pitch.
“What these players have achieved this year, the treble, is incredible. I hope people focus and judge them for their football and what they’re achieving on the pitch and what they’re achieving in every competition they’re in.
“The club as a whole is very well run. Today, the value of this group is over six billion dollars. We’ve created so much value – we’ve brought in world-class investors. Why? Because we have a commercial machine here that is one of the best in the world.
“We’re the number one football brand in the world. The club generates a tremendous revenue.
“People will throw at us ‘the biggest spenders’, ‘you have the biggest squad’. I wish people can just pause and ask the question, and get the facts and then comment.”
In terms of on-field achievements, winning the Champions League for the first time this year fulfilled a long-held ambition.
Khaldoon said: “With the Champions League, we’ve tried so hard for so many years. Then to finally, finally do it – it’s relief, it’s happiness, but it’s really more relief. We finally have that trophy right here.”
Khaldoon added that City’s consistency in the Premier League was the record of which he is “most proud” and the club are targeting more trophies.
“You always can top it,” he said. “I can see how it does get better. It always can get better.”
Khaldoon also paid tribute to captain Ilkay Gundogan and hopes the German stays at the club.
Gundogan played a key role in the run-in but is out of contract this summer.
Khaldoon said: “When you need him in the big games, he’s always there, and I hope there’s more chapters to that legacy. Obviously, Ilkay has to make big life decisions for him.”
Kane gunning for Lewandowski's single-season Bundesliga goal record
Harry Kane has his eyes set on Robert Lewandowski's single-season Bundesliga goal record after scoring twice in Bayern Munich's 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, though he knows he needs "to get a move on".
Kane scored in both halves on Saturday to take his tally to 42 goals this season across all competitions, also reaching the 400-goal mark at senior level for clubs and country.
The striker scored 280 of those goals for Tottenham, holding the honour of being the club's all-time leading scorer, while he is also the most prolific player in England history with 62 goals for the Three Lions.
With 35 goals in 31 Bundesliga appearances this season, Kane now has his eyes set on another piece of history.
Former Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski holds the record for the most goals scored in a single Bundesliga campaign, netting 41 times in 2020-21.
Asked about the possibility of breaking that record with just three games remaining in Bayern's league campaign, Kane said: "It's possible, but obviously I have to get a move on!
"I've got to maybe score a few goals next week. It's there, it's in touching distance.
"It depends on the last few games of course, but it was nice to add to it today and score a couple of goals to help the team."
Bayern next host Real Madrid in the first leg of a Champions League semi-final tie on Tuesday, before travelling to face Stuttgart on Saturday.
Pochettino says VAR 'damaging' English football as Chelsea denied Villa win
Mauricio Pochettino claimed VAR is "damaging" English football after Chelsea saw a potential winning goal chalked off at the end of their 2-2 Premier League draw with Aston Villa.
Despite a bright performance, Chelsea found themselves 2-0 down at half-time on Saturday with Marc Cucurella putting through his own net before Morgan Rogers added Villa's second.
Goals from Noni Madueke and Conor Gallagher dragged Chelsea level as they penned Villa back after the break, but the Blues were enraged in stoppage time when Axel Disasi saw a potential winner ruled out.
Disasi headed home in the fifth minute of stoppage time to spark wild celebrations among the visiting Chelsea fans, only for referee Craig Pawson to disallow the goal following a pitchside VAR review, ruling Benoit Badiashile pushed Diego Carlos in the build-up.
With that incident coming just one week after Chelsea were denied a penalty in their FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City despite Jack Grealish appearing to handle Cole Palmer's free-kick, Pochettino has had enough.
"Everyone that was watching the game will feel disappointed. The referee said it was a foul and disallowed the goal after going to the VAR to confirm," he told TNT Sports.
"The referee is unbelievable and it's ridiculous. It is difficult to accept these types of things. In the semi-final it was handball and it was no penalty, the referee didn't check it.
"It is painful as it has damaged English football and I think Villa players and their fans didn't understand why the goal was disallowed.
"They said it was a foul and if you see the challenge… if we go into every single challenge like this and it is going to be a foul, we wouldn't finish the game with 11 players.
"We can talk about the performance or the decision – it is damaging the game."
Pochettino had no complaints about Chelsea's performance, though, as they avoided defeat for just the fourth time in 51 Premier League games when trailing by two or more goals at half-time.
The Blues previously achieved that feat in a 3-3 draw with Sheffield Wednesday in 1992, a memorable 2-2 draw with Tottenham in 2016 and another 3-3 draw with West Brom in 2020.
Chelsea racked up 21 shots to Villa's nine and put up 1.57 expected goals (xG) to the hosts' 1.1, with Nicolas Jackson and Palmer spurning glorious chances in either half.
"The performance was very good," Pochettino said. "We played really well and it is true in the first half we conceded too easily.
"To play Villa, who are fighting for the top four, I am pleased with the team. Now, we have to move on and the headlines will be about the disallowed goal."
New England Revolution 1-4 Inter Miami: Messi at the double as Herons run riot
Lionel Messi scored twice and laid on a goal for Luis Suarez as Inter Miami retained their three-point lead at the Eastern Conference summit with a 4-1 win over the New England Revolution.
A franchise-record crowd of 65,612 people witnessed a flying start from the Revs as they took the lead within just 37 seconds at Gillette Stadium. Carles Gil pounced on some sloppy play from Miami to tee up Tomas Chancalay, who lobbed Drake Callender for the opener.
However, Miami roared back with Messi leading from the front. They had a deserved equaliser just after the half-hour mark, Messi slotting home after latching onto Robert Taylor's throughball.
Messi had his second after 67 minutes, producing another composed finish after former Barcelona team-mate Sergio Busquets split the New England backline.
Messi was involved in another two goals as Miami added some gloss to the scoreline late on; his first-time shot was saved by Henrich Ravas but Benjamin Cremaschi was on hand to score on the rebound after 83 minutes, then the Argentine teed up Suarez for a curled finish five minutes later.
Miami stay three points clear of Supporters' Shield holders FC Cincinnati at the top of the East, with the Orange and Blue keeping pace by beating the Colorado Rapids 2-1 on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Messi rolls back the years
Ahead of Saturday's game, some feared Miami boss Gerardo Martino would opt to rest Messi after speaking of the risks of fielding the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner on New England's artificial pitch.
However, Messi came through 90 minutes with another mesmerising performance. He has now recorded a goal involvement in 10 straight club matches for the seventh time in his glittering career, last doing so for Barcelona between September and December in 2018.
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