Louis van Gaal has blamed Manchester City's financial doping for the 'suffering' that he endured in his torrid 2016 Man United exit.
The Dutch manager was given his marching orders on the heels of the 2015-16 season, which saw the Red Devils narrowly miss out on a place in the following term's Champions League.
Both Man City and Man United wrapped up with 66 points, but the Cityzens, playing their final season under Manuel Pellegrini had the superior goal difference which secured their spot at Europe's top table.
Van Gaal was despatched despite ending the season having won the FA Cup, and in correspondence with the Athletic, stressed that he believed that failing to qualify for the European top flight had prompted the club's Glazer ownership group to swing the axe.
'For me, at the time, that (missing out on the Champions League in 2016) was probably the deciding factor in my dismissal from Manchester United and all the consequences and suffering this entailed,' he stated.
The former Barcelona boss added that 'for sure', things might have been different if he had been playing in a fair competition.
Louis van Gaal admitted that he believes his time at Man United might have ended differently if not for Man City's financial manipulation
Louis van Gaal admitted that he believes his time at Man United might have ended differently if not for Man City's financial manipulation
The former manager was dismissed at the end of the 2015-16 season after missing out on a spot in the Champions League, despite finishing level on points with City
The former manager was dismissed at the end of the 2015-16 season after missing out on a spot in the Champions League, despite finishing level on points with City
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Van Gaal subsequently took a hiatus from management, which he described at the time as being a 'sabbatical'.
He only returned to the dugout in 2021, when he was appointed as head coach of the Dutch national team.
Van Gaal's tenure at Old Trafford fell during the period between 2009 and 2018 that Man City have been found guilty of artificially inflating revenue made through sponsorship.
City were found to have used 'sham' contracts and agreements to cook their books by around £900million over a nine-year period, claiming a commercial income of £949.94m of which only £119.25m had come from sponsors.
The Premier League said the panel found City arranged ‘sham contracts (which misrepresented the true agreement between the parties) with a number of its commercial partners, as well as relying on ‘sham’ agreements with others, to artificially inflate the club’s revenues and reduce its costs’.
Deals with a number of sponsors were part of ‘a disguised funding scheme, whereby those companies were only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees’, the statement added, saying that ‘the remainder was funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club’.
The result was that the club had ‘filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators’.
Man City have doubled down on their innocence and appealed the verdict, with the club underscoring that they are in possession of 'irrefutable evidence' which will clear their name.
For Van Gaal, he admitted that there was little he could do as he 'cannot turn back history now.'
'Not even the English Football Association can (do that),' he added.
But the 75-year-old is not alone in wondering what might have been had Man City not been able to inflate their revenue and in turn, invest in some of the players fundamental to their multi-year successes.
Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard admitted that he wanted the club to 'suffer' after 'stealing memories', with the Reds icon going without a Premier League medal during their era of dominance.
Liverpool came second to Man City when they claimed the title in 2013-14, and although Gerrard was circumspect last week as he discussed Man City's potential punishment, he ultimately called for the club to be sanctioned heavily.
'I think I have come to terms with that I have never won the Premier League, that I was short in that department in terms of winning it,' Gerrard said last week. 'I have come to terms with the incident that happened to me at the back end of that season and I have heard a lot of City players, a lot of City fans, and celebrity fans say "you can't take those moments away from us".
'What about the memories they have taken away from not just possibly me, and the team that I played in but over that period of time, nine, ten years?
'Spurs fans, United fans, Everton fans, teams at the bottom, teams in the cups? City, ex-players, current players, and City owners, everyone connected with City have got to think about the memories they have stolen away from everyone else.
'Multi-year punishments, that would be my opinion,' he added when asked what was deserved. 'I'm not saying that's the right opinion, but that's just how I feel sitting here in this chair.
'I think putting them down to the Championship is not fair on the EFL. I don't think it's enough, because they'll bounce back. You look at that team yesterday. Can you imagine that in the Championship? With all due respect, it's not fair on the teams playing against City week in, week out. It's not fair on the potential team that could be the third team to come up.
'I think it needs to be a transfer ban. I think it needs to be points over a period of time. And make them suffer like they've made everyone else suffer for the nine, ten years that they've done it for. That would be my opinion. But there needs to be an example set.'