Jose Mourinho has hit back at Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola in emphatic fashion.
Guardiola made headlines when he held six fingers up towards Liverpool fans to remind them of how many Premier League titles he had won.
Mourinho made a similar gesture during the final days of his tenure at Manchester United, as he held three fingers towards Chelsea and Tottenham fans.
Guardiola was later asked if he would suffer a similar fate to Mourinho, to which he responded: “I hope not in my case… He won three, I won six… but we are the same like that.”
Mourinho has now hit back at his former rival.
“Guardiola said something to me yesterday,” Mourinho said.
“He won six trophies and I won three, but I won fairly and cleanly.
“If I lost, I want to congratulate my opponent because he was better than me. I don’t want to win by dealing with 150 lawsuits.”
Mourinho was referring to the 115 charges brought against Manchester City by the Premier League relating to alleged breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
Their alleged offences, between 2009 and 2018, coincided with the club blossoming into the dominant force of English football.
City won the Premier League three times during that period in question – in 2012, 2014 and 2018.
The club deny all charges and an outcome is not expected until 2025 at the earliest.
More to follow…
