Steven Gerrard says he wants Man City to ‘suffer’ after ‘stealing memories’ from rivals during cheating era – but insists he has ‘come to terms’ with the slip that saw Liverpool lose grip on Premier League title

DAILYMAIL.COM • 4h ago

By LEWIS BROWNING, SPORTS REPORTER 17:03 12 Oct 2026, updated 17:04 12 Oct 2026

Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has revealed he is keen for Manchester City to ‘suffer’ after they were found guilty on the vast majority of their charges against the Premier League’s financial rulings.

Gerrard, who played for Liverpool for much of the period City are charged for, infamously failed to win the Premier League as a player – but things could have been different.

His Reds side finished runners-up to City in the 2013-14 season when the former midfielder was captain, meaning the rulings affect him directly. A banner reading that Gerrard should be a top flight champion from that era was displayed at Anfield during Liverpool’s game against City on Sunday.

And now he has had his say. Speaking on Overlap Daily, Gerrard opened up on how his story could have been different. He seemed to have mixed views – ultimately calling for a strong punishment.

‘It’s not personal for me in terms of the Manchester City players because they’re all outstanding players,’ he said. ‘They have lived a moment and they obviously deserved to… I’m not somebody who is going to sit here and say I would accept a Premiership medal or I want one that they have got.

‘I think I have come to terms with that I have never won the Premier League, that I was short in that department in terms of winning it. I have come to terms with the incident that happened to me at the back end of that season and I have heard a lot of City players, a lot of City fans, and celebrity fans say “you can’t take those moments away from us”.

‘What about the memories they have taken away from not just possibly me, and the team that I played in but over that period of time, nine, ten years? Spurs fans, United fans, Everton fans, teams at the bottom, teams in the cups? City, ex-players, current players, and City owners, everyone connected with City have got to think about the memories they have stolen away from everyone else.’

Gerrard was then quizzed on potential punishments – and he called for the book to be thrown at his former rivals.

‘Multi-year punishments, that would be my opinion,’ he said. ‘I’m not saying that’s the right opinion, but that’s just how I feel sitting here in this chair.

‘I think putting them down to the Championship is not fair on the EFL. I don’t think it’s enough, because they’ll bounce back. You look at that team yesterday. Can you imagine that in the Championship? With all due respect, it’s not fair on the teams playing against City week in, week out. It’s not fair on the potential team that could be the third team to come up.

‘I think it needs to be a transfer ban. I think it needs to be points over a period of time. And make them suffer like they’ve made everyone else suffer for the nine, ten years that they’ve done it for. That would be my opinion. But there needs to be an example set.

‘I think if this was Liverpool, people would say, “Oh, you’re talking nonsense”. Yeah, I would protect Liverpool. I’d protect the Liverpool fans, because it’s not the fans’ fault, and I’d protect the ex-players. I probably would react in the same way as the City players have, but in their quiet times, they know there needs to be strong punishments for the sake of the game, the Premier League, the brand, the world.

‘I was in a box yesterday, it was full of foreign players. All they wanted to talk about was what City were doing. So this has had a ripple effect worldwide. It needs to be sorted as quickly as possible, and sanctions need to be strong so it doesn’t happen again. Because they were strong with Everton. They were strong with Nottingham Forest. We’ve seen examples of other federations being strong in other countries, so good luck to the Premier League, they have to be strong.’

City’s star striker Erling Haaland, meanwhile, has snapped up a luxury property in Abu Dhabi after publicly backing his side and their United Arab Emirates owners in the wake of the club’s seismic guilty verdict.

Haaland, 26, scored as Manchester City cruised to a 3-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.

Ahead of the high-stakes clash, he publicly threw his support behind the club, urging fans to ‘enjoy the ride’ in a show of defiance that echoed the stance of City’s Abu Dhabi owners, who are fiercely appealing the verdict.

In what could be seen as another show of loyalty to Manchester City and the Abu Dhabi United Group, the Norwegian striker has bought a luxury property in the newly built Ohana Development on Yas Island in UAE’s capital.

His 53-year-old father, Alf-Inge Haaland, has also purchased a residence at the same complex, with property prices reportedly costing up to £7.5million.

Steven Gerrard says he wants Man City to ‘suffer’Comments are subject to our House rules and TermsNewest{{#isModerationStatus}}{{moderationStatus}}

No one seems to have shared their thoughts on this topic yetLeave a comment so your voice will be heard first.

{{upVotes}}{{downVotes}}{{#replies.comments}}{{^isLast}}{{initials}}{{userAlias}}, United Kingdom, {{formattedDateAndTime}}{{message}}

{{upVotes}}{{downVotes}}{{/isLast}}{{#isLast}}{{initials}}{{userAlias}}, United Kingdom, {{formattedDateAndTime}}{{message}}

{{upVotes}}{{downVotes}}{{/isLast}}{{/replies.comments}}{{/replies.totalCount}}{{^replies.totalCount}}{{initials}}{{userAlias}}, United Kingdom, {{formattedDateAndTime}}{{message}}

{{upVotes}}{{downVotes}}{{/replies.totalCount}}{{/isComment}}The opinions and views expressed in the comments section are solely those of the individual users and do not represent or reflect the opinions, views, or positions of MailOnline. MailOnline does not endorse, support, or verify the accuracy of any user-generated content.Terms|Privacy|FeedbackOldest{{#isModerationStatus}}{{moderationStatus}}