Mourinho jokes Manchester City-Premier League legal battle could outlast him

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho joked on October 9, 2026 that the prolonged legal dispute between Manchester City and the Premier League might continue beyond his lifetime, remarks he made in an interview with Italy's Corriere dello Sport.

An independent commission found Manchester City guilty of all charges related to financial rule breaches covering the 2009-10 to 2017-18 seasons and ruled the club had breached three of the four charges linked to an alleged failure to cooperate with the investigation; City have denied wrongdoing, challenged the ruling and lodged an appeal.

The Premier League has alleged Manchester City used so-called "sham" commercial arrangements to overstate income and underreport expenses by more than 900 million pounds (USD 1.19 billion) across nearly a decade, leading the league to say the club submitted inaccurate financial disclosures and violated spending regulations.

Mourinho's comments came with personal context: he was Manchester United's manager from 2016 to 2018, a period that included the 2017-18 Premier League season in which his side finished second to Pep Guardiola's Manchester City.

When asked about the case, Mourinho said: "I would rather laugh about it," and added: "I think we will eventually get an ending, but we are both in our 60s and we'll need to be lucky enough to still be around when the final verdict arrives. "There will be a verdict, then appeals, then more appeals."

Manchester City sit at the top of the standings with a 100 percent record after five matches.

They will face Liverpool on Sunday, October 11, at Anfield.