Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho tight-lipped on 'untouchable' Manchester City amid FFP allegations

Mourinho says he will 'focus on football' amid the allegations
Man Utd via Getty Images

Jose Mourinho resisted the temptation to weigh in on allegations Manchester City avoided Financial Fair Play (FFP) sanctions by misleading Uefa, but admitted he doesn’t know what is ‘behind’ what he describes as Pep Guardiola’s ‘untouchable’ squad.

The Manchester United manager followed up from his cryptic response to claims reported by German magazine Der Spiegel this week.

When questioned about claims City allegedly inflated sponsorship deals to hide the true amount of money being invested by their Abu Dhabi owners, Mourinho said this week: “I have thoughts from a few years ago, but I keep the thoughts to myself.”

Ahead of Sunday’s derby, he was diplomatic again – but quick to highlight the importance of money in City’s spectacular rise over the past 10 years.

Mourinho said: “It is difficult for me to answer because I focus on my job, I focus on the four lines, focus on football.

“If you want to speak about their football potential we can speak and football potential starts with investment. After that, of course, there is a quality of the work, of the organisation. I think that is untouchable - but what is behind I cannot say.

“In this moment I have only to think about football, and to think about football is to think about Manchester City as a football team.”

Der Spiegel’s reports come after emails and documents were obtained by the website Football Leaks.

They claim City took significant measures to disguise the funding of owner Sheikh Mansour as Uefa tried to clampdown on reckless spending.

Gareth Copley/Getty Images

City have refused to comment on what they claim is an ‘organised and clear’ attempt to damage their reputation.

But Pep Guardiola addressed the issue on Tuesday, saying: “Of course I trust the club and what they have done. Of course we want to follow the rules. Uefa, Fifa and the Premier League do what they have to do.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in