Every single word from Pep Guardiola as Man City Boss responds to Premier League charges in press conference

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola delivered an emphatic pre-match press conference on Friday, speaking for the first time since Monday’s charges from the Premier League for a series of alleged breaches of financial regulations.

The reigning Premier League champions were hit with 115 charges for alleged financial breaches earlier this week and face the prospect of a points deduction or even expulsion from the division if found guilty.

In a statement in wake of the announcement, Manchester City said that they were “surprised” by the Premier League’s decision and that the club “look forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all” as the Blues hold a “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence.”

The charges relate to incidents between 2009 and 2018 and come following a four-year investigation by the Premier League.

Pep Guardiola defiantly addressed the media on Friday afternoon ahead of Sunday’s game against Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium, with the Sky Blues looking to bounce back from last weekend’s defeat to Tottenham in North London.

Here is everything the Manchester City manager said during a remarkable pre-match press conference at the City Football Academy.

“My first words are for the people in Turkey and Syria. It is terrible what has happened,” said Guardiola.

“My first thought is we’re already being condemned. It’s the same with UEFA, we were already condemned. The club proved we were completely innocent. You know on what side I am.

“We are lucky we live in a country where everyone is innocent until proven guilty. It seems like we have already been sentenced. What is going to happen, I don’t know. We think we have good lawyers and I we are going to defend our position. Time will depend what happens. We will see what a judge, the Premier League decides. In the same way with UEFA, we are innocent.

“We will go to the low division, no problem. We have been there before. We will call back Paul Dickov, Mike Summerbee and make a good process.

“The club, they talk to all of us. But we have trained like normal to get ready for Aston Villa. The last seven years have been for us, our fans and our people. The court will dictate what happens. I am fully convinced that we will be innocent.

“We lost at Spurs, the rest was quite good. We were not good enough but, of course, we know the situation and we have to start on Sunday.

“In this country, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. UEFA’s sentence wasn’t even that. It is now down to the lawyers of both sides to defend one side and the other one. It will be longer than one month, two months and three months. We know what happened with UEFA and we will see that.

“It happened in UEFA and that was for one or two years. Now it has happened everyone is going to talk about it every single day. We just have to focus on the pitch. There is a long process and we know what is going to happen.

“It is not an unprecedented story. It is the second time of this story. I’m fully convinced that we will be innocent, and then what will happen next? Since Abu Dhabi took over the club, since day one it’s been like that.

“Nineteen clubs are not going to help us. We won the Premier League last season on the pitch. Let us defend [the charges]. If it happens, we will accept it. But like UEFA, we will defend.

“In this country, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. This didn’t happen. The players will be focused on our game [vs Aston Villa]. That is for sure.

“They have set a precedent. What they [rival clubs] have done to us, be careful. Be careful in the future. Many clubs can make suggestions and there are a lot of clubs that can be accused, like we have been accused.

“I am not moving from this seat. I can assure you more than ever that I want to stay. More than ever. Now I don’t want to move on. Not because the people say, ‘They lied to you Pep’. They did not lie to me. Look what happened with UEFA, we did not do anything wrong. Now is the same case. Why should I not trust my people?”

“I want to stay here even more now, I trust my people. I have sometimes wondered but I’ve never been more certain about staying.”