O'Shea: I've Paid Little Heed to City Furore
Thursday, 15th Oct 2026 10:29 by Kallum Brisset
Town captain Dara O’Shea says he has paid little attention to Manchester City’s ongoing financial furore ahead of the Blues’ trip to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
During the recent international break, Town’s weekend opponents were at the centre of the biggest story in world football, where an independent commission found City guilty on 114 of the 115 charges laid by the Premier League, including all 80 related to serious financial breaches.
It ruled that the club disguised owner funding as sponsorship payments, described as ‘sham’ contracts, over a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018, with an estimated £900m of inflated revenue as a result.
Enzo Maresca’s side continued their perfect start to the Premier League season with a sixth straight victory last weekend, defeating Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield before being beaten by reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday.
City, who are majority-owned by the Abu Dhabi United Group, continue to deny all wrongdoing and have submitted an appeal.
Ahead of Saturday’s meeting with the eight-time Premier League champions, Blues skipper O’Shea has distanced himself from those conversations.
“I don’t really know, to be fair,” he said. “I don’t really pay too much heed to it. There’s a lot going on in my life, so I don’t really need to get involved in other clubs’ things.
“There’s a lot going on in the media and different things happen. That’s a battle that they’re fighting themselves and what will be, will be. Obviously you’ve got regulations and you’ve got stuff that is in place.
“I’ll leave it to them, it’s way above my pay grade to have an opinion on.”
Regardless of any external narrative surrounding the club, a trip to the Etihad Stadium always poses a significant challenge with Maresca’s men setting the early pace at the top of the Premier League table.
O’Shea said: “Playing against City at any stage or any feeling is always going to be difficult. It’s going to be a game that we’re going to have to be ready for. We’re going to have to show a lot of character in that game and see where that puts us.
“They’ve got such great quality that it doesn’t really matter, they could put out any team and they’re still going to be a really, really tough team to play against.
“Of course, it could always spur them on a bit more, but that’s football. We’ll try and find our way to motivate ourselves.”
Town have reason to be optimistic, having won three of their first six league matches of the campaign following a trio of winning goals in the final minute of normal time or beyond.
The latest victory came last weekend at Portman Road, when Gary O’Neil’s side sparked a late comeback to defeat Fulham after trailing as late as the 88th minute.
It was O’Shea’s first home goal for the club that lifted the Blues into the top half of the Premier League table, which he says has raised belief among the squad.
“Confidence is massive in the league and it’s important to have that momentum behind you,” the Republic of Ireland international said. “Getting the three points after such a long break was always important.
“Really happy with where we are, we’re going into it with confidence but understanding of the game and task at hand.”
_Photo: TWTD_