Manchester United should seize the opportunity to raid their cross-town rivals for elite talent if Manchester City faces severe punishment for financial fair play breaches, according to former Red Devils midfielder Quinton Fortune. City has already appealed an Independent Commission's guilty verdict covering violations between 2009 and 2018, though a failure to overturn the decision could trigger unprecedented sanctions.
Potential penalties for Manchester City include heavy fines, points deductions, transfer bans, or expulsion from the Premier League alongside potential forfeiture of past titles. Fortune believes that if a mass exodus follows at the Etihad Stadium, INEOS must move quickly to secure some of the league's top performers.
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Subscribe"And if there are any leftovers, I will take Erling Haaland! I cannot believe I mentioned all those names before Haaland! There might well be quite a few options there," Fortune noted during an interview with BoyleSports, highlighting the Norwegian striker as the ultimate prize.
Alongside Haaland, Fortune pointed to several other key targets including Nico O'Reilly, Rayan Cherki, Marc Guehi, and Elliot Anderson as ideal additions to manager Michael Carrick's squad. However, he admitted that lifelong City supporter Phil Foden would likely never make the controversial switch across Manchester.
Fortune Questions Integrity of Past Rival Trophies
The ongoing fallout from Manchester City's financial breaches has sparked intense debate throughout English football regarding the validity of past titles and historical achievements. Fortune expressed strong skepticism about whether retroactive honors would hold any real value for competitors who lost out during those seasons.
"I would reject a medal, because if I know it was not won the right way, it would not feel right," Fortune explained when discussing whether former managers like Jose Mourinho should accept retrospective league winner medals.
Comparing the situation to athletic doping scandals, the former United player emphasized that success must be earned fairly through honest competition rather than administrative adjustments years down the line.
As the Premier League weighs its next historic steps, the broader footballing world watches closely to see how the investigation will shape the landscape of domestic and European competition for years to come.