Josh Hart has become part of a football social media storm after reacting strongly to Manchester City’s latest financial verdict. The New York Knicks star is also a Chelsea supporter. He did not hold back while talking about the Premier League’s findings against City. However, his post soon brought attention back to his own club.

Josh Hart posted on X, “Man City lied about 900 million pounds?! Forget relegation…Burn the club down.” 

He wrote this soon after an independent commission found Manchester City guilty of serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules. Hart appeared to call for an even stronger punishment for City. But football fans quickly reminded him about Chelsea’s own financial history.

Why Did Josh Hart Call Out Manchester City?

The Premier League announced on September 29 that an independent commission found Manchester City guilty of financial-rule breaches between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.

According to the Premier League, as reported by Reuters, City used “sham” commercial contracts that did not show the true agreements with some of its commercial partners. The commission found that these deals helped City increase its reported revenue and lower its costs by more than £900 million during that period.

The league also said City submitted incorrect accounts. It said the club hid the true state of its finances from auditors and football regulators. The commission also found that City broke both Premier League and UEFA spending limits during the period.

That is the background behind Hart’s post.

The NBA star appeared to react to the size of the findings. His reference to relegation suggested that he felt even sending Manchester City out of the Premier League would not be enough.

But his strong reaction soon started another debate.

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Fans Turn the Focus Toward Chelsea

Man City lied about 900 million pounds?! Forget relegation…Burn the club down

— Josh Hart (@joshhart) September 29, 2026

Josh Hart is a known Chelsea supporter. Because of that, several football fans used his support for the club to question his criticism of Manchester City.

One fan directly asked why a Chelsea supporter was taking such a strong position against another club’s financial history.

“A Chelsea man talkin like this?”

The short reply started a bigger discussion. Fans were not necessarily defending Manchester City’s actions. Instead, they questioned whether Hart’s criticism matched Chelsea’s own history of spending and ownership.

Another fan gave a much longer response and mentioned former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.

“Your club’s most successful period came under the stewardship of a Russian oligarch who was forced to sell Chelsea after being sanctioned by the UK government. Maybe let’s not get too sanctimonious about other clubs’ ownership.”

Abramovich owned Chelsea from 2003 until 2022. The UK government sanctioned him in March 2022. The sanctions froze his assets and placed restrictions on Chelsea.

Chelsea later completed a sale to the Boehly-Clearlake consortium through a process approved by the UK government.

That history became an easy target for fans replying to Hart.

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Another Fan Calls Out His Chelsea Support

Another response was even more direct:

“Chelsea fan tweeting this is f****** insane. Consider 9mm frontal lobe application”

The comment attacked Hart personally rather than focusing on the details of the Manchester City case. The fan’s main point was that Hart’s support for Chelsea made his criticism of City easier to question.

Another supporter talked about Chelsea’s financial history from a different angle:

“The only reason you support Chelsea is because they did worse than City, but unfortunately there wasn’t a hacker to expose them back then. 0 chance you’d be supporting midtable Chelsea from the 90s without financial doping.”

The fan argued that Chelsea’s rise to the top of European football also came after major financial investment during the Abramovich era.

However, the two situations are not legally the same. The current Manchester City case involves specific historical Premier League financial-rule charges and findings from an independent commission.

Chelsea’s situation under Abramovich involved different circumstances. These included the UK government’s sanctions against Abramovich and the later sale of Chelsea.

Some Fans Turned Hart’s Argument Back on Chelsea

Another response made the point in a much simpler way:

“I agree and also do the same to [@ChelseaFC] too”

The fan took Hart’s argument against Manchester City and applied it to Chelsea as well.

This became a common theme in the replies. Instead of only discussing whether Manchester City should face relegation or another major punishment, fans started discussing whether Chelsea supporters should criticize another club’s financial history.

Hart’s post therefore created a second conversation alongside the original Manchester City story.

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Manchester City Plans to Fight the Verdict

The Manchester City case is not over yet.

The Premier League says the commission found City guilty of all charges linked to the serious financial-rule breaches. It also found the club guilty of three of four alleged breaches linked to its cooperation with the investigation.

City has rejected the findings and said it plans to appeal. The club has said that the commission made significant errors in its conclusions. City continues to defend its position.

The punishment has also not been decided yet. So, Hart’s mention of relegation refers to a possible punishment and not an announced decision.

The size of the financial findings has made the verdict a major football story. The Premier League said the schemes artificially increased City’s revenue and reduced its costs by more than £900 million over nine seasons.

That was enough to trigger Hart’s angry reaction.

But his strong words also opened the door to questions about the club he supports.

Instead of keeping the discussion only about Manchester City’s financial case, fans quickly brought Chelsea’s history into the conversation.

A “Burn the club down” comment by Josh Hart has now become a football social media talking point on its own. The Manchester City verdict remains the main issue, but the reaction also shows how quickly financial-rule debates can turn into arguments about spending, ownership and the history of rival clubs.

City plans to challenge the verdict, while the punishment is still to be decided. The next stage of the case will therefore be closely watched by the football world.

Do you think Josh Hart’s strong reaction was bound to bring Chelsea’s own financial history into the conversation? Let us know in the comments. 

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