Agbonlahor discusses impact on Aston Villa from ‘cheaters’ Man City over alleged breaches

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·28 September 2026

Agbonlahor discusses impact on Aston Villa from ‘cheaters’ Man City over alleged breaches

Gabriel Agbonlahor has called Manchester City’s alleged financial breaches a disgrace and has outlined the impact City’s success had on former club Aston Villa.

City have reportedly been found guilty on 114 of the 115 alleged charge for breaching financial rules, though an official statement from the Premier League is yet to arrive.

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Potential sanctions remain unclear, though the scale of the breaches has seen many call for many to call for unprecedented punishment. City’s alleged breaches date from 2009 to 2018, a period which saw the Cityzens win three Premier League titles and establish themselves as one of Europe’s top teams.

Agbonlahor has slammed City as a ‘bunch of cheaters’ and said all clubs will want compensation. He outlined how his former side, Aston Villa, were impacted as City repeatedly signed the club’s top talent.

“I played in that era, 2009 to 2018. We got relegated in 2016, for six seasons I played in it,” he told talkSPORT.

“You know what they did in 2009? They took our best player, Gareth Barry. You know what they did in 2010? They took our best player, James Milner. You know what they did in 2014? They took our best player, Fabian Delph.

“As a Villa player in that era. A bunch of cheaters have taken our best players, we’ve gone to the Etihad and got some spankings from Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero and David Silva, where did they get the money from to buy these players?

“If I’m all these teams, get your lawyers ready. Let’s go. We want paying. What if you missed out on Champions League qualification? What if you missed out on [avoiding] relegation? What if you missed out on winning league titles? Every league position you miss out on is a few million pounds, isn’t it? All the money that Man City might have to pay to these clubs, it’s off the scale”.

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