Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards says the Premier League’s damning verdict on the club has left him devastated and heartbroken.

City were found to have engaged in a £900million scheme to either inflate revenues or reduce costs through a series of 'sham' arrangements between 2009 and 2018 in order to avoid breaching league and UEFA financial regulations.

The eight-time Premier League champions face severe sanctions, although City remain defiant and immediately declared their intention to appeal.

Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, Richards – who lifted the Premier League title with City in 2012 – said: 'The reports were troubling. I saw the words which were used by the Premier League in sham contracts and I felt absolutely devastated.

'I’ve been at that club since I was 14 years old, I would die for that club. I achieved my dream at Manchester City, but then to hear these reports, and not only me as an ex-player, but the fans, what they have to go through, absolutely devastating.'

Richards described speaking to the fan he used to live with as a young player at the club, adding: 'My digs man, he rang me and he was literally in tears and asking me about information, which I don’t know, I haven’t got the answers to tell him.

'And that’s someone who’s supported the club for 60-odd years, and the uncertainty around it is just heartbreaking.

'To have a headline of this nature for a club that I love so much, it’s been difficult. If you listen to the reports, they are damning. I feel saddened, I feel angry, I feel a little bit confused because, on the other side, you have City’s side of the story.'

What City’s punishment will be remains to be seen, but the implications are likely to spread far and wide – with the possibility that they could be kicked out of the Premier League and also stripped of the titles they won in that period.

'There are no winners in this,' added Richards. 'If Man City do the appeal and they get off, it’s still going to be tarnished. And, if they’re found guilty after the appeal, what happens then?

'And it’s not just Man City fans or Man City players, it’s the whole of the Premier League comes into question. This could be something that goes on for years and years and years.'

Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane said, if he was a City player, he would throw all the medals in the bin - referencing Brian Clough's famous words to his Leeds players during an ill-fated 44-day spell at Elland Road.

Speaking on ITV, Keane said: 'They knew it would hurt a lot of people, but they’ve still done it, and, if I was a player, I’d be 100 per cent sticking those medals in the bin.

'It’s cheating. You’re hearing nonsense about some ex-players saying, ‘Oh well, they won on the pitch’. Because it was cheating! It was cheating going on.'