'Not my problem!' - Roberto Mancini responds to Manchester City guilty verdict and double-contract claims

Mancini has delivered a blunt response to the ongoing legal storm surrounding Manchester City, claiming that the club's recent guilty verdict regarding financial breaches is "not my problem." The current Italy head coach was in charge at the Etihad between 2009 and 2013, a period that is now under intense scrutiny following the Premier League's confirmation that the club failed to provide accurate financial information.

Despite being a pivotal figure in the club’s modern history, Mancini appears determined to separate his own reputation from the institutional charges facing the reigning English champions.

Speaking ahead of Italy's Nations League clash with France, the veteran coach dismissed suggestions that he was worried about how the findings might impact him personally. "No. I already spoke it about the other night. It's not something that concerns me. It's City's problem, unfortunately," he stated, as quoted by ESPN.

The core of the controversy involving Mancini involves an alleged "double contract" that surfaced through documents leaked by Der Spiegel in 2018. It is claimed that while Mancini had an official base salary of £1.45m at City, he was simultaneously paid a similar amount for consultancy work with Al Jazira, a club based in Abu Dhabi.

This arrangement has led to accusations that the club effectively offshored a significant portion of the manager's wages to circumvent Financial Fair Play regulations. Recent reports from The Telegraph indicate that City may have avoided paying up to £12m in tax and national insurance through this specific structure.

Mancini, however, seems to have already acknowledged the existence of these arrangements while shifting the legal burden onto the club. During a recent trip to Turkey, he was even more explicit about the nature of his employment terms during his time in Manchester.

"Manchester City is not guilty and the fact of having a double contract isn't my problem but theirs, probably," he remarked during a press conference in Bursa. Taking to social media, Mancini reiterated his stance, stating once again that the situation is simply "not something that concerns me."

Despite the noise coming from England, Mancini is attempting to keep his focus on the international stage, where his Italian side is navigating a difficult Nations League group. The Azzurri have experienced a mixed run of form, following up a disappointing home loss to Belgium with a convincing 4-1 victory against Turkey.

The coach was candid about the current state of Italian football when discussing the challenges of facing a talent-heavy French side at the Stade de France. "When you don’t have world class players, you have to build a team that can play well together, and this is what we want to do," he explained to RAI Sport. He referenced the success of Euro 2020 as a template for this approach, noting that the team was in a similar position when he first took the job.