Ruben Dias spoke about how Manchester City players will fight to defend the club on the pitch after the guilty verdict
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 11: Ruben Dias of Manchester City reacts during the Premier League 2026/27 match between Liverpool FC and Manchester City at Anfield on October 11, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Ruben Dias and Erling Haaland at Manchester City
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Ruben Dias said that Manchester City players are already used to the reality that 'people don't love us winning' as they look to stay calm amid turmoil for the club.
Speaking for the first time since the guilty verdicts, captain Dias backed up the trust that the players have in the hierarchy as everyone hopes for their name to be cleared on appeal.
City have appealed a verdict that found they had cheated to the tune of £900m over nearly a decade and insist they have irrefutable evidence, although a three-man independent panel thought differently. Amid anger at the news, the Blues went to Anfield on Sunday and beat Liverpool 3-0 in their first game back.
That dispelled any notion that the players would be affected by what Enzo Maresca has called the 'noise', and hostile cries of 'cheats' from the Anfield crowd failed to get a rise out of the City stars. Having been around when the charges were first brought in 2023 when City went on to win the Treble, Dias did not feel that the weekend was a new experience.
"I feel like when you build yourself as a player, you build yourself against any kind of noise," he said. "Personally, and I really feel like I speak for the whole group, we're very calm. We trust the club, we're very calm and we're very focused on enjoying football.
"We know the team we've got, we want to make the most out of it, we want to win and that's the only thing in our minds. If there's more or less noise or whatever the reason the noise is, at the end of the day, it's all the same. Same as before, because people don't love us winning and we love to win."
Unlike in 2023, news broke this time while City players were scattered all over the world with their respective national teams. Ever since, it has been impossible to ignore coverage every time they go on their phones.
However, after reassurances were quickly given over messages to settle the players, they then met with club bosses when they returned to Manchester last week to ensure everyone was focused. Dias is relishing the task of leading the group through such an exceptionally difficult challenge this season and has full faith in the club's position.
"When it broke, we obviously felt like we should have a conversation as soon as we got back. We did so just for everyone to be on the same page and to obviously be clear about our peace of mind. And we moved on from there," he said. "Obviously, it happened in a moment where we were not together, but quickly we reached out to each other and obviously quickly as well. we found calm and we progressed forward.
"There's a lot of noise and it's almost impossible to avoid seeing something, even us being as private as we can be and just doing our own lives on your phone. It's impossible to avoid everything. But I feel like we're also very good at focusing ourselves in our work, in our job, doing it right, making the most of it, being happy every time we come to work and our minds are very much there and only there.
"It's the things we can control, it's the things we've always been doing and enjoying so much. So we have full confidence on the club. We trust the club and we love to win.
"I'm here for it, so we'll be the other three captains and so we'll be the rest of the team. We will defend the club, we will fight for it, and we trust the club."
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