Maresca makes HUGE Man City pledge over League One relegation fears as he sends Pep Guardiola a message

Enzo Maresca has faced the media to address Manchester City’s FFP guilty verdict

Enzo Maresca is adamant he is in it for the long haul and has no fears of hanging around if Manchester City were relegated to League One off the back of the Premier League finding the club guilty of 114 counts of financial irregularities.

The Cityzens are caught up in the biggest storm that the Premier League has arguably ever seen after a lengthy probe into their finances concluded they had swelled their books to a combined £830m over a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018 with a number of ‘sham’ commercial deals.

City, though, are heavily protesting their innocence and plan to take the fight to clear their name all the way to the High Court.

Indeed, in a show of unity, the Cityzens have released an interview with both Maresca and striker Erling Haaland, who both insist the mood around the club remains positive and that everyone needs to stick together.

That all comes while a separate Premier League commission decides on the most suitable punishment, with demotion down to the leagues, a hefty points penalty and a massive transfer ban all up for discussion.

Either way, it’s been claimed the club could lose an estimated £500m annually for each year they spend outside the top flight in lost revenues.

Now, facing the media for the first time since the Premier League published their damning guilty verdict, Maresca has faced the media and taken the opportunity to underline his faith and loyalty to the club.

“First of all morning, I understand the reason why most of you are here. There is a process ongoing; I completely trust the club,” Maresca began. “I trust the club, and I trust the people; that is why I joined the club. There is no other club where I would like to be.”

When asked if he would walk away if Man City’s appeal fails, Maresca replied: “I will speak about this when we win the appeal. No sense to speak about anything. I understand why you are here because you want to hear something.”

When asked whether he would stay if Man City were relegated, the Italian said: “I won the Championship with Leicester, League One, we will see.”

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City have won eight Premier League titles over the years, six of which were achieved under iconic manager Pep Guardiola, whom the Italian replaced this summer.

Asked if any of those were now tainted, Maresca had a staunch message: “Absolutely not. The last time I was here was the treble season. I know the effort from the players, from the club, from the manager at that time, that was Pep. So I know exactly the effort that the club put in to achieve that kind of target. So I don’t have any doubt about that.”

Pushed on whether the title wins now come with an asterisk, Maresca insisted: “Absolutely not.”

A number of City players have already been linked with exits since the sanctions came to light, and sources have looked into the situations evolving around Phil Foden, Rayan Cherki, Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi.

The biggest speculation of all, though, revolves around Haaland, who has this week been touted by a second source for a move to Liverpool.

Maresca was asked for his opinion on how the news impacts his players, and he said: “I said already, for me, the players. We can control just the pitch side, the football side. So we are focused on that; this is what we can do and what we can control. Not control something different.”

City return to action with a clash against Liverpool at Anfield, which is sure to be a cauldron this Sunday.

Asked for his thoughts on the game, Maresca commented: “It will be a tough game, tough test. We need to be ready. The focus has to be about the team, it may be even worse because of the situation. They can absolutely face the pressure, we have players who have faced similar. We have Enzo Fernandez, in Argentina, it is like this every game.”

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