Pep Guardiola backs Man City after guilty verdict on financial charges

The Spanish coach won 20 trophies during a glittering 10 years as City manager before departing in May.Former Manchester ‌City manager Pep Guardiola has spoken out ⁠in support ⁠of the Premier League club after they were found guilty of serious ⁠breaches of financial rules.The Spaniard handed over to former assistant Enzo Maresca at the end ⁠of last season after a decade in charge.“I want every single @ManCity fan to know I am here; more than ever. I am, always have ‌been, always will, be behind my club, my owner, my chairman, Ferran, the players, staff, Enzo and you, our unique supporters,” Guardiola said on Wednesday ⁠in a first reaction on his ⁠X account.“Let me be clear: we will get through this together. I love you all.”City’s Chief Executive Ferran Soriano addressed staff in a video on Tuesday in which he rejected the independent commission’s findings.Guardiola ⁠took charge of City in 2016 and under his management, ⁠they won six Premier League titles – ⁠including four in a row – three FA Cups, five League Cups and the Champions League.The Premier League charges, relating ‌to “sham” commercial contracts used as part of schemes to inflate revenue and understate costs by more ‌than 900 ‌million pounds ($1.2bn) over nearly a decade, cover the period from 2009-18.In doing so, they concealed the true state of their finances and avoided breaching Premier League and UEFA spending limits during a period in which they won three league titles.An independent commission found the club guilty on all charges related to breaches of financial rules over the nine-year period.They have also been found guilty of most of the charges they faced in relation to a failure to cooperate with a Premier League investigation.