90min
·23 October 2024
In partnership with
Yahoo sports90min
·23 October 2024
Jose Mourinho has suggested he wants to be retrospectively awarded the 2017/18 Premier League title when his Manchester United side finished runner-up to Manchester City.
City smashed Mourinho's Premier League points record – set with Chelsea in 2004/05 – when they became the first top flight English side to break the 100-point barrier. But speculation is rife over punishments the club could face if found guilty on charges relating to alleged financial breaches.
There are no limits to the potential sanctions, with rival fans demanding blood in the form of heavy retrospective points deductions or even titles won during the period (2009 – 2018) being stripped.
"As you know, we won the Europa League [in 2017] and we finished second in the Premier League [in 2018]. I think we still have a chance to win that league because maybe they punish Man City with points and maybe we win that league," Mourinho quipped this week.
"Then they have to pay me the bonus and give me the medal."
Man Utd finished second to Man City in 2017/18 / Matthew Ashton - AMA/GettyImages
Despite his various domestic league titles and two Champions League triumphs, Mourinho famously claimed in 2019 that the second place finish with United was one of his best managerial achievements amid the limitations and hurdles he said he was facing.
The 81 points accumulated by that team, in which major roles were played by Romelu Lukaku, Chris Smalling, Nemanja Matic, Ashley Young and Jesse Lingard, among others, is United's best Premier League tally by some distance in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
The next highest is 75 achieved by Erik ten Hag in 2022/23, and it is also greater than several of the club's actual title-winning tallies from 1996/97, 1998/99, 2000/01 and 2010/11.
The City case is currently being reviewed by an independent commission, beginning last month.