30/09/2026
🗣️ "I do think Man City's medals or trophies they have won in this time should be taken off their list, I do believe that.
"Whether other clubs should get them, I think is slightly different. But what Manchester City have done is, they have not just hurt their own players in terms of no-one looking at their trophies and medals now in the same way and they never will. But the players we are talking about getting medals...I've been very lucky to win some medals and I never look at the medals years later.
"But what happens is my mind goes back to those moments, I get a feeling in my stomach and I remember the referee blowing the final whistle of a big game. I remember Jerzy Dudek saving a penalty (in the 2005 Champions League final) and that feeling I got. Those [Man City] players will never get that feeling [again] and it was robbed of them by Manchester City.
"I don't think any player will care if you go and give him a medal and they put it in their medal collection, in their trophy room. He'll never look at it. He won't get that feeling, that memory.
"And that is why I don't think it'll make a difference if these players get a medal because they have lost the moment.
"And when you win things as a footballer, nobody remembers the medals, it's what it felt like; going for a night out with your mates after it, what you did, where you went, the people you bumped into.
"As I said, the referee's final whistle, someone scoring an amazing goal - these are the feelings you can't explain and that is what is special about being a footballer.
"So this thing about giving trophies or medals back. Whether you do it or not, it doesn't mean anything. They have lost that feeling. And it is supporters as well, it's not just players.
"So whether it's Liverpool, Manchester United supporters, other teams in cup competitions and finals, they have lost that moment that they will remember, that they will take to the grave with them; what happened, the stories, the memories.
"It's not about medals, it's about feelings and that is what Manchester City have robbed."