Jose Mourinho’s tongue-in-cheek claim that Manchester United could yet be awarded the 2017-18 Premier League title has resurfaced following the latest reports surrounding Manchester City’s financial case.
Mourinho remarked in October 2024, when he was preparing Fenerbahce to face his former club United in the Europa League. Almost two years later, it has acquired fresh relevance after reports claimed that an independent tribunal had found the majority of the charges against City to be proven.
City insist the Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements still to be completed. Sky Sports News understands it is now moving towards the appeal stage.
Mourinho’s old line, carried again by BBC Sport, has therefore returned to the conversation.
“I think we still have a chance to win that league… and then they have to pay me the bonus and give me the medal.”
Mourinho’s 2017-18 claim takes on new relevance
Mourinho was smiling when he originally made the comment, and there was little doubt about the humour behind it.
The numbers from 2017-18 explain the reference. United finished second under Mourinho with 81 points, but City were well out of reach. Pep Guardiola’s side accumulated 100 points and won the title by a 19-point margin.
At the time Mourinho made his medal joke, City’s hearing was still taking place behind closed doors. The situation is different now.
Reports on Friday claimed the independent tribunal had reached decisions in the case and found the majority of the charges proven. Sky Sports News understands the process is moving towards an appeal, while City continue to deny wrongdoing and say significant elements of the proceedings remain outstanding.
There is no suggestion, however, that United are about to be handed the Premier League trophy. No sanction has been publicly announced, and the Premier League has not indicated that the 2017-18 title will be reassigned.
Until the disciplinary and appeal process has run its course, City remain the officially recognised champions of that season.
Could Manchester United actually be awarded the title?
That is the obvious question raised by Mourinho’s comments, but there is no straightforward answer.
Even if retrospective punishment were eventually imposed, it should not simply be assumed that United would automatically become 2017-18 champions.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has previously explained the difficulties clubs could face in attempting to establish that City’s alleged breaches directly cost them silverware, Champions League qualification or other financial rewards.
For now, the record books haven’t changed.
City remain champions for 2017-18, while Mourinho remains the manager who guided United to second place. His team also finished above Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea that season, but were 19 points behind Guardiola’s record-breaking side.
Mourinho has previously returned to the City argument
It wasn’t Mourinho’s last word on City.
In December 2024, after Guardiola referred to having won twice as many Premier League titles as Mourinho, the Portuguese responded by saying his own three titles with Chelsea had been won “fairly and cleanly”.
The rivalry between the two managers stretches back much further than their time in Manchester, and City’s Premier League case provided another source of disagreement between them.
Friday’s reports have now brought Mourinho’s 2024 comments back into focus.
City’s response, however, remains unchanged. The club says the process is ongoing and chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak told supporters on Saturday that its “confidence and intent in proving the Club’s innocence is just as strong as when this began”.
We have also examined the reports surrounding the Premier League hearing and the separate question of potential compensation claims.
For now, City remain the 2017-18 Premier League champions, and United remain the runners-up. Mourinho’s old joke has simply found a new audience.
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