'If City lose, the legal issues have only just started, they're not finished'

FOOTBALL finance expert Kieran Maguire believes the full extent of City's ongoing legal battle with the Premier League may not see a complete resolution until years down the line.

- By MATTY HEWITT

The current reigning top-flight champions were accused of breaching the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-year period from 2009 to 2018, as well as failure to cooperate with the Premier League's investigation.

City were originally accused of 115 charges back in 2023, though that is believed to be closer to the 130 mark.

The Blues have strongly denied any wrongdoing and claim to have irrefutable evidence to back up their claim.

City boss Pep Guardiola revealed in February that a decision could be announced last month, though that timeline has now been and gone, with recent reports claiming a summer announcement is more likely.

During the period in question, City won three Premier League titles and strongly deny any of the accusations put to them by the top flight's governing body.

When asked about the recent delay, Maguire exclusively told M.E.N. Sport: "I was in the company of 300 sports lawyers a few nights ago and as you can imagine, this was hot topic. The conclusion was, that there's an awful lot of evidence to review.

"What they seem to think will be the case, is there will be a judgement as to whether Man City are innocent or guilty of the individual charges and then there will be a separate announcement, which could take considerable amount of time, in which we will find out the punishment, if any.