Premier League managers have offered guarded responses to the Manchester City guilty verdict, with Coventry City boss Frank Lampard and Leeds United manager Daniel Farke both declining to comment in detail while the appeal process remains ongoing.
Lampard, who spent a brief spell as a player at Manchester City, said he was unsure what to make of the situation and stressed that he was not close enough to it to provide any particular insight.
“What can you say when the appeal is going on?” Lampard said when asked about the charges.
Farke adopted a similar position, making clear that his priority was football rather than the case involving City. “Not my topic. My topic is football. There are more qualified people to speak on this,” he said.
The Leeds manager added: “It makes no sense if right now everyone wants to have an opinion about this topic. There are more qualified people to talk about this. It’s nothing to do with me, I was not involved in the title race during those years.”
Manchester City players return to training
City’s players have since returned to training following the international break, alongside manager Enzo Maresca, who was seen arriving at the club’s training ground.
Maresca has not yet faced questions from the media, with his press conference due to take place tomorrow. Erling Haaland was also seen arriving, despite concerns that a knock sustained while on international duty could rule him out of the weekend trip to Liverpool.
City are expected to assess Haaland’s fitness, after the Norway international was unable to complete his international commitments.
