Will Man City find FFP charge ‘loopholes’? Questions asked of why sanctions have not been revealed in long-running battle that involves ‘best legal minds in the world’

That situation, on the back of a strongly-worded statement from the English top-flight in which those at the Etihad Stadium were accused of engaging in “sham” practices, is continuing to keep the rumour mill ticking over.

More than three years have passed since City were first made aware of the fact that supposed monetary mismanagement was falling under the microscope. From the moment that 115 charges were first revealed, speculation has been rife regarding possible punishments.

It has been suggested that the Blues could be booted out of the Premier League, stung with a points deduction that guarantees relegation, face long-term transfer embargoes and be hit with eye-watering fines that include compensation packages for domestic rivals.

Nobody, though, knows precisely what the final outcome will be. City maintain that they have done nothing wrong, and will be lodging appeals against any claims to the contrary, with there the promise of several more twists and turns to come in the long-running saga.

Asked if City’s stance can be put down to having the best legal representation that money can buy, with any holes in the Premier League’s argument set to be found, former Blues defender Mills - who was speaking in association with Gambling.com, the guide to the best online casinos - told GOAL: “Without a doubt. They've had the best group of lawyers on this for several years now, but they've still been found guilty of 114 charges. It is bizarre, isn't it? It's 115, 114 guilty, one you're not.

“But that also shows that actually the independent panel have got into this quite thoroughly and not just gone, ‘well, you're guilty of all of them’. They've clearly looked at every single charge individually.

“If there are loopholes to be had, you'd have thought they'd have found them by now. They will still be arguing their case. But you've got some of the best legal minds in the world on this case.

“There's two sides to every story, but the charges were brought. They then went to an independent panel and another independent panel. And these are some exceptionally clever, bright people with no agenda. I know lots of judges, lots of legal people, lots of lawyers, and they are incredibly impartial. They will just look at the facts, and they've decided that on 114 of these charges, you're guilty. Simple as that.

“So you start to think if there were loopholes, surely they'd have come out by now because that would have been part of City's argument in the first place.”

As City are dragged through the mud, could it also be argued that there is little chance of them going down without a fight. If any Premier League opponent is not squeaky clean, will that soon come out in the wash?

Mills added: “Oh, 100%, and I'm sure they've done it already. That's also going to be flipped, and everyone else is going to go: ‘Well, hang on a minute, you cheated. We were deprived of X, Y, Z. We lost out on these financial bonuses. We got relegated because you did this. We didn't get in the Champions League because of this. Therefore, your alleged cheating means that we're now going to sue you’.

“And we've seen that already. We've seen that happen in the Premier League with other football clubs. That'll be where it gets a little bit nasty and a little bit contentious and even more complicated because how do you deal with that 10 years on, eight years on, six years? Where's the knock-on effect?

“Okay, you might have got relegated in 2019 or you didn't make the Champions League in 2019, but how do you work out the financial implications of the last seven years of what may or may not happen?

“If I was City, I would then flip that and say: ‘Hang on a minute. We've been buying your players and paying over the odds for them, and therefore you've made more money off the back of us because we paid you inflated transfer prices’. There's always two sides of it.

“I know that's quite a weak argument, but I'm sure that's what they would come up with and say, ‘well, we overpaid and we were made to overpay for every single player, therefore, prices were inflated to us and we paid more than the value of your players, so you actually made some money off the back of us’. And that argument will be thrown about, but then it gets even more complicated. It's just an absolute mess.

“What has surprised me is that no sanctions sentencing has been brought yet. Normally, legal system, justice system in court, you get found guilty and then sentencing or sanctioning is very soon afterwards. It looks like we're not going to hear what the sanctions are until the appeal process is over. Which is quite unusual.

“I don't understand why, if they know, if they are guilty and they've been found guilty of these charges, then why can't we know what the sanctioning is going to be now? You could then appeal the process and then if you're found guilty again, you can appeal after that.

“I think we're all sort of in limbo because we do not know how serious the punishment will be. And I think that's the problem that everybody has at the moment. What is the punishment? As it stands right now, they are guilty over a long, long period of time. So what is the punishment? Why have we got to potentially wait another year until we find out what the sanction is going to be?”

The deadline for a verdict in City’s appeal case is said to be January 23, 2027. That is still more than three months away, with no obvious finishing line in sight for those that are desperate to bring an unwelcome distraction to a close.

Those at the Etihad continue to fight their corner, while the Premier League have their cards on the table, and any number of outcomes remain possible - from a slap on the wrist to top-flight expulsion.