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Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard has launched a scathing attack on Manchester City, insisting the club should be stripped of titles and subjected to years of punishment following the Premier League’s findings of serious financial rule breaches.

The former Reds captain believes City’s actions have potentially robbed rival clubs, players and supporters of memories that can never be recovered, warning that any punishment must be severe enough to deter others from following the same path.

Speaking on Monday’s episode of Overlap Daily with Becky Ives, Gerrard called for retrospective sanctions, transfer restrictions and points deductions spanning multiple seasons, while making it clear that he has no interest in receiving a Premier League winner’s medal himself.

His comments follow an independent commission’s decision on September 29 to find Manchester City guilty of serious breaches of Premier League financial regulations across nine seasons, from 2009/10 to 2017/18. City have maintained their innocence and lodged an appeal against the findings, with the final outcome and any sanctions still to be determined.

For Gerrard, who came agonisingly close to winning the Premier League with Liverpool in 2013/14, the controversy carries particular significance. However, he insists his concerns extend far beyond his own career and Liverpool’s missed opportunity.

“I think I have come to terms with [the fact] that I never won the Premier League, that I was short in that department. I have come to terms with it. I have come to terms with the incident that happened to me at the back end of that season,” Gerrard explained.

The 46-year-old then turned his attention to City’s supporters and their argument that historic achievements and celebrations cannot simply be erased.

“I’ve heard a lot of City fans and celebrity fans say: ‘You can’t take those moments away from us.’ But what about the memories they have taken away from not just possibly me and the team that I played in but over that period of time – nine or 10 years?”

Gerrard argued that the consequences reach across English football, affecting clubs competing for trophies, European qualification and even survival.

“Spurs fans, Manchester United fans, Everton fans, teams at the bottom, teams in the cups, City’s ex-players, current players and their owners – everyone connected with City – have got to think about the memories they have potentially stolen away from everyone else.”

The former England international was part of the Liverpool side that finished two points behind Manchester City in 2014, with Brendan Rodgers’ team missing out on the championship despite scoring 101 league goals.

That campaign remains one of the most painful near misses in Liverpool’s modern history, but Gerrard dismissed any suggestion that retrospectively awarding him a medal would compensate for what happened.

“It’s not personal for me in terms of the Manchester City players because they are all outstanding players,” he said, stressing that the individuals involved had experienced their achievements on the pitch.

“I am not someone who is going to sit here and say I would accept a Premier League medal. Or I want one that they have got.”

While Gerrard does not believe City’s players should be forced to surrender their personal medals, he takes a considerably harder line when it comes to the club itself.

“I wouldn’t want individual players to give stuff back, that wouldn’t be right… But the club, they have to be stripped.”

Gerrard also believes that Manchester City’s historical record should reflect the commission’s findings if they survive the appeal process, even if stripping titles ultimately proves impossible.

“There needs to be an example set historically, in my opinion, whether that’s an asterisk throughout all the years and their achievements. There needs to be, minimum, an asterisk. Because then it doesn’t matter whether the titles are stripped or not. As soon as that asterisk is there, everyone knows that happened because of what we all know happened.”

However, it is the scale of any future punishment that Gerrard believes could prove just as important as rewriting the historical record.

Rather than simply relegating City to the Championship, he suggested that such a decision could unfairly affect clubs in the English Football League, particularly if City were strong favourites to return immediately.

“I don’t think it’s fair on the Championship if they go down, because they will be one of the three teams that come up, so that takes a slot away from the Championship so it’s not fair on the EFL,” Gerrard explained.

Instead, he wants sanctions that would damage City’s ability to compete at the highest level over a sustained period.

“I think it’s more moving forward in the Premier League, to punish them over a period of time, multi-year punishment, that would be my opinion, I’m not saying that’s the right opinion but that’s just how I feel.”

Gerrard was particularly forceful when outlining the measures he believes should be considered.

“I think it needs to be a transfer ban and a points deduction over a period of time. Make them suffer like they’ve made everyone else suffer for the last nine, ten years. The sanctions need to be strong so it doesn’t happen again.”

He also pointed towards the punishments previously handed to Everton and Nottingham Forest for breaches of financial regulations, suggesting the Premier League must demonstrate the same determination when dealing with City.

“They were strong with Everton, strong with Forest. Good luck to the Premier League but they have to be strong.”

Gerrard went even further when discussing the relationship between footballers and the owners responsible for the running of their clubs, suggesting that a final guilty verdict would permanently damage the trust between City’s players and those above them.

“If this was Liverpool and they tainted or tarnished those memories, I couldn’t speak to those owners ever again. I couldn’t,” he admitted.

“If you’re a Manchester City player that won those trophies, you can’t look at those owners in the same way… But if these owners or these people are guilty, how can you as a player look at them in the same way? How?”

The Liverpool icon believes any punishment must therefore address not only the past but also the future of the competition.

“So there needs to be the right punishments. Historically, moving forward, and now, in my opinion.”

Despite the independent commission’s findings, the case remains unresolved while Manchester City’s appeal proceeds. The club has consistently rejected wrongdoing and will continue to challenge the decision.

Gerrard acknowledged his frustration at the length of the process and the possibility of further legal proceedings before a final resolution is reached.

“That’s the frustration for me. That’s the frustration for everyone. How long is it going to take before we know whether they are innocent or they are guilty?”

His intervention comes immediately after Manchester City’s 3-0 victory over Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, a match played against the backdrop of growing anger over the financial scandal.

For Liverpool supporters, Gerrard’s comments will inevitably reopen memories of the 2013/14 title race, but his argument goes considerably further than whether the Reds should be retrospectively crowned champions.

He believes the central issue is the integrity of English football itself and whether clubs found responsible for serious, prolonged breaches of its financial rules can be allowed to retain the full benefits of their success.

For Gerrard, the answer is clear: should the findings against Manchester City be upheld, the punishment must be substantial, historically meaningful and felt for years to come.