"Let them suffer, just as they made everyone else suffer over those nine, ten years," the former world-class Liverpool player said on Overlap Daily.
At the end of September, the Premier League found City guilty of serious breaches of financial rules over several years. The top English club then appealed, and the outcome remains undecided.
City could lose all titles from the period in question and face forced relegation to the Championship. "I don't think that would be fair," Gerrard said. "Because City would certainly be one of the three teams promoted, and would thereby take a promotion place from a Championship club." Forced relegation would "not be enough, because they would come straight back", Gerrard said.
What penalties Gerrard believes Manchester City should face
Instead, the Liverpool icon suggested keeping City in the Premier League but "punishing the club there over several years. That's my opinion. I'm not saying it's the only right thing to do. But that's how I feel." Gerrard named a transfer ban and points deductions, each lasting for extended periods, as specific measures. "An example must be made of them," said the 46-year-old Englishman.
A retrospective English league title with Liverpool would bring Gerrard no joy, despite the title eluding him throughout his illustrious career: "I've come to terms with the fact that I never won the Premier League," he explained. But, referring to City's wrongdoing, he added: "What about the memories they've taken away, not just from me and my team, but from everyone else?"