Manchester City are likely to be forced into a full hearing on their 115 Financial Fair Play (FFP) breaches as Liverpool continue to await a verdict.
In February 2023, City were charged by the Premier League for breaches which mainly revolved around their conduct between 2009 and 2018. The main points of contention regarded the financial information they had submitted to the league surrounding payments to players and managers.
The Premier League also claims that City did not cooperate fully with the resulting investigation. Pep Guardiola’s club have always firmly denied any wrongdoing and insist they have evidence that will prove their innocence.
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However, this evidence is yet to be heard by the Premier League after a prolonged wait to set a hearing date. It is expected that City will have its hearing at some stage this year, but the verdict is not expected until the summer of 2025.
This has led to some speculation that the Premier League and City may decide to come to a settlement out of court to avoid any further delays. The worry with this method is that clubs like Liverpool and Arsenal are unlikely to deem that justice has been done if settled before a hearing, considering Everton and Nottingham Forest both had their cases taken through the process.
On BBC Radio Manchester’s We’re Not Really Here podcast, football finance expert Kieran Maguire and City’s former financial advisor Stefan Borson were quizzed as to whether a settlement is a likely outcome. Both men were in agreement with their response with Maguire explaining: “It would certainly save a lot of money on behalf of both sides.
“It could mean that both parties could claim a victory, but I think in terms of public opinion and the reaction there’s likely to be from both the media, and I suspect from other clubs, it’s not really something that would be palatable to the Premier League nor City.” Borson added: “There are ways in which it could occur within the Premier League rules.
“But I think they missed their window for a settlement. Now that it’s public and now that we’re so close to the hearing, it would be very unlikely for them to find common ground politically to get this settled.”
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