Do ‘bullish’ Man City have ‘a few cards up their sleeve’? Cult hero Paul Dickov talks 115 charges, possible sanctions and ‘bolshy’ stance after ‘sham’ statement

More than three-and-a-half years have passed since City were first made aware that supposed monetary misdemeanours at the Etihad Stadium were falling under the microscope. Following a lengthy investigation, that news was broken in February 2023.

A 10-week hearing, carried out by an independent commission, took place in September 2024 and concluded by the end of the calendar year. It took until the autumn of 2026 for reports to emerge regarding City’s supposed guilt - with the Premier League eventually speaking out in public.

There is no word on what happens next, with various sanctions being speculated on - ranging from hefty point deductions, which would lead to inevitable relegation out of the English top-flight, to huge compensation packages, fines and transfer embargoes.

Throughout the entire process, City have always pleaded their innocence and accepted no wrongdoing. That remains the case, following statements from CEO Ferran Soriano and club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak.

Asked if he expects City to start the 2027-28 campaign as a Premier League outfit, 1999 Division Two promotion-winning hero Dickov - speaking in association with 247Bet - told GOAL: “I'm not dodging the question. I've said this all along since it came out, I think it's a really difficult one to answer.

“I've been hearing a lot on both sides. I've been hearing a lot of ex-players, pundits, talking about it, saying what the punishment should be, what should happen, what shouldn't happen, the severity of it. On the other side, City and the statements that they have made.

“The truth of the matter is, nobody actually knows. We actually don't, and I mean that generally, I don't think anybody knows. I don't think us sitting here, people on the telly, probably the Premier League and Man City don't even know at the minute what's going to happen with the appeal, if they're going to win, if they're not, what the sanctions are going to be, how severe they are, are there going to be any sanctions.

“It's just a really difficult one for me to answer because it's been interesting hearing a lot of people's thoughts on it from my point of view. A lot of people have been very strong in their opinions, which I get.

“But I genuinely think that sometimes you should just maybe wait to see what the outcome is, the eventual outcome, before you can actually hazard a guess at what's going to happen. Because I'm not lying to you, I've not got a clue about what the outcome's going to be.”

If City were to be dumped out of the Premier League, then 15 of their 19 top tier rivals would need to vote in favour of said expulsion. Asked if that feels unlikely, given how important the Blues are to the division’s global brand and mass appeal, Dickov added: “You wouldn't have thought so.

“You don't know, I wouldn’t have thought that the charges would have come out in the severity that they have done, but they have. Would you have thought that after that coming out, the club, the chairman, Ferran, Khaldoon, would have been as strong and as bullish in their defence? Because that is how they came back at it.

“All I can say is that from my experiences with the club, and especially the owners, is that they're really, really good people. What they've done, not just on the pitch, what they've done for Manchester in general off the pitch, and how they've been, we've only known them as good people that have done good things.

“So at the minute, with the statements they've come out with, all we can do is go with them because they've always done good since they've been here. So until that point, not just myself, but obviously a lot of City fans and their mates, we've just got to believe in them at the minute.”

City have been so resolute in their stance, amid some fierce backlash at times, that it would be slightly bizarre to see them eventually stung with more than 100 counts of regulation breaches.

Quizzed on whether the eight-time Premier League champions may have a few more aces yet to play, Dickov said: “Whether it's a few cards up their sleeve or not, however you want to put it, they've obviously got something.

“They are genuinely good people at the very top. And this is, yet again, my own personal opinion, that if they didn't have something, I think they would hold their hands up. They obviously feel as if there's something there and they feel hard done by, and something that they're going to fight to the very end for.

“And, speaking to all my mates who are City fans through and through, that's the one thing that's given them hope at the minute, because they've only ever done good by the club since they've been here. Also, the fact that the defence is so strong, I would go as far as bolshy and punchy, that it gives us, on this side, a bit of hope.”

City spent big again in the summer transfer window, acquiring the likes of Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernandez, and have - on the back of suffering a Community Shield defeat to Arsenal - taken maximum points from their opening five Premier League games of 2026-27 to sit top of the table.

Their return to action after the international break promises to be a lively affair, with a trip to Liverpool on the cards. Anfield should be rocking on Sunday, with it yet to be determined what the short and long-term future has in store for the two heavyweight outfits involved in an eagerly-anticipated fixture.