**Jurgen Klopp has given his reaction to Manchester City’s landmark charges.**
As Liverpool manager, Klopp routinely fought it out with Pep Guardiola’s City for numerous major honours including three Premier League title races.
But Tuesday’s official verdict found the Etihad Stadium club guilty on 114 breaches of the top flight’s financial rules between 2009/10 and 2017/18.
An independent commission concluded that City arranged ‘sham contracts’ with commercial partners to disguise owner-led funding of over £800 million.
Sanctions are yet to be decided but one option could see City’s titles stripped with a possibility of the Reds being retrospectively crowned 2013/14 champions.
Although City’s breach period did not overlap with their contests with Klopp, he joked about taking part in a bus parade if he was ‘awarded’ two more titles.
Now Germany manager, the 59-year-old has spoken publicly for the first time since the official verdict but insists he is not concerned by the developments.
“I haven’t given it much thought but of course I’ve seen it,” said Klopp.
“I also know what I said about it – that if there’s ever a parade, I’ll be there and so on. It doesn’t feel like that anymore.”
“My respect for Pep Guardiola and the football played at City during the time we played against each other.
“The way they played back then, the way they brought football to life on the pitch and what an opponent they were for us at the very highest level is far too great for me to be able to say anything now.
“Should any sanctions be imposed, I naturally have nothing to do with it anyway, and that’s why I’m waiting to see how things pan out.
“But when you’re talking about legal proceedings that have been going on for so long now, you can well imagine… I assume there will be an appeal or something like that? That will take ages again.
“So I’m a long way from preparing myself for it in any way and I don’t have any feelings about it.
“It’s not as if I need that right now, just so I can say ‘I’ve been English champion a few more times’.
“I’m completely fine with what’s happened and what we’ve achieved.
“We battled it out on the pitch, and I can’t say anything about the rest of it because I don’t know exactly what it’s all about.
“To be honest, I’m not particularly interested in it either.”