Man Utd don’t deserve the title if City are stripped: Rooney
Wayne Rooney says Manchester United do not deserve a retrospective Premier League title if Manchester City are stripped of their honours for financial breaches.
Speaking on the Stick to United podcast, Rooney said he would not feel comfortable accepting another Premier League medal because United did not finish top of the table.
“I wouldn't feel comfortable accepting another Premier League medal, if I'm being honest, because I don't think we deserve it,” Rooney said. “We didn't do enough that season to win the league.”
Rooney, who was part of the United side that finished runners-up to City in the 2011-12 Premier League season, said players from both clubs could feel aggrieved by any retrospective changes to the standings.
“They're there doing everything they can to win the Premier League title and in their minds they've done it,” he said.
“And, 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: “They might take them away, but I wouldn't want it because I don't feel as a team we deserved it that year because we obviously didn't finish first.”
Manchester City have been found guilty of the majority of the 115 charges brought against them by the Premier League, relating to alleged financial breaches between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.
The club were also accused of failing to cooperate with Premier League investigations between December 2018 and February 2023.
Sanctions have yet to be announced, while City have said they plan to appeal the decision.
One possible sanction could involve the club being stripped of Premier League titles. City have won the competition eight times since Sheikh Mansour's takeover in 2009, with three of those titles coming during the period covered by the financial charges.
Rooney's former United teammates Rio Ferdinand and David de Gea reacted on social media after news of the verdict emerged, with both suggesting that United should be awarded retrospective titles.
Former Stoke City manager Tony Pulis also said he felt “cheated” after his side were beaten by City in the 2011 FA Cup final.
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