Man City 'must know' decision on 115 charges as theory emerges over verdict delay

Pep Guardiola's side are still waiting to hear the verdict on their 115 Premier League charges case for breaching financial rules. The Manchester City boss admitted earlier this year he was expecting a ruling by March but no decision has yet been made. Meanwhile, the Cityzens have been busy spending big on players with the likes of Omar Marmoush, Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Tijjani Reijnders all arriving at the Etihad Stadium.

Guardiola has sought to reshape his squad after seeing his players endure a trophyless campaign, but Aldridge believes that the rash of signings also suggests the club already knows the verdict of their case. The former Liverpool star also believes it points towards a favourable conclusion for the Cityzens.

He wrote for the Sunday World: "I can’t believe it has taken this long to come up with a verdict and City’s huge spending in the transfer market since the start of 2025 leads me to suspect they know what is likely to happen. Either they are making pre-emptive moves to sign players in case they are hit with a transfer embargo or they know they are going to be found not guilty and are planning a new era of domination. Nottingham Forest and Everton were docked points for breaking the Premier League’s financial rules, but City’s charges were far more serious, and that fuelled the rumours that their punishment could be huge. I’d imagine Pep Guardiola would not have signed his new contract with the club last November if he thought they were going to get hammered with a points deduction or a transfer embargo. Clearly, he was also promised that City would find a way to spend huge sums in the transfer market to rebuild his ageing team."

Aldridge also hit out at the length of time it is taking to reach a conclusion on the situation. He added: “The football world has been waiting to find out what is going to happen with the 115 charges of financial irregularity they face, and the Premier League will have a lot to answer for if they can’t prove they are guilty. When this long charge sheet was announced in February 2023, the feeling was that City were in big trouble and may even get thrown out of the Premier League. They could have titles stripped from the years when they were breaking financial rules, and it felt like they were finally going to be stopped in their tracks after years of appearing to manipulate the system. More than two years later and the story has not reached a conclusion. The Premier League case appears to be stuck in legal red tape. Most of us suspect City have been bending a few rules to effectively take over English football and win trophy after trophy, but it’s up to the Premier League’s legal chiefs to prove it – and that appears to be a problem."

Manchester City are currently at the Club World Cup and could hand debuts to some of their new faces. The Cityzens open their campaign against Wydad AC on Wednesday.