Arsenal could be the biggest winners from Man City's looming punishment

1,327 days after the Premier League first brought 115 charges against Manchester City, Friday finally produced the news everyone had been waiting for. The report that Man City had been found guilty on "on almost all charges" sent shockwaves through football and wider society. Coming during a double international break usually devoid of news ensured this is all anyone had been talking about.

So, what next? Well, it may be many months until Manchester City are actually punished for their widespread, industrial scale financial doping, to use a phrase coined by Arsène Wenger. All sanctions are at the discretion of the independent commission, meaning anything is on the table.

Having given it plenty of thought since the news dropped on Friday, here are the three ways we believe Man City should be punished, and why Arsenal are best placed to benefit.

1) Strip titles, but don't give them to anyone else

Firstly, retroactively, how can Manchester City be allowed to keep any trophies they won? Their fans and former players will argue that they were won on the pitch, which is true, and the joy those in sky blue felt in that moment can never be taken away. What they did do however, was take joy away from millions of fans of every other club, and those are the real victims here, which cannot be forgotten.

Thus, now that the cheating has been proven, all trophies and titles must be stripped from the record. However, they should not be given to the runners-up. There is no joy for Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham, the list goes on, fans being awarded a trophy via email retrospectively.

What is a lot more powerful would be for there to be no winner. Go over to the Wikipedia page titled "List of Tour de France general classification winners", and scroll down to the period between 1999 and 2005. Each year has "No winner" listed, despite the fact a tour did take place and someone came second a third. Manchester City have to be viewed as the Lance Armstrong of the Premier League, enjoying unprecedented success, but through unfair means.

Having the history books say "No winner" for the rest of time is a powerful reminder of this dark period, acting as a stain on English football, which is exactly how Manchester City should be viewed.

2) Point deductions

Point deductions in football always feel arbitrary. In 2023/24, Everton were deducted eight points for two PRS breaches, with Nottingham Forest also losing four points. In the EFL, if a club goes into administration, they are docked 12 points, while Luton were famously docked 40 points in 2008/09. It all feels a bit like numbers are being plucked from thin air.

So, we have a solution. Manchester City have been found guilt of rule breaking for a period of nine seasons between 2009 and 2018, not even considering the success that followed. So, as a way of reclaiming all the points they unfairly won, for the next nine seasons, we propose that the Citizens are deducted the exact number of points they won per season during that period.

Manchester City points per season (2009-2018)

Under this proposal, they would be deducted 67 points this season, thereby almost certainly relegated, before starting next season on -71, and the season after that on -89 and so on. This would act as a constant reminder, across the next decade, of how they achieved success by breaking the rules, directly holding them to account and crippling the club, in the same way they've crippled all others.

3) Reperasions to other clubs

This is the most difficult aspect to figure out. Widespread reports suggest countless other clubs are ready to sue Manchester City for loss of earning. Any team they have finished above or eliminated from a cup competition has a claim, so this is expected to get extremely messy.

Back in June, Everton were ordered to pay Burnley £35 million because, in the 2021/22 season, the Toffees were found to have broken Profit and Sustainability Rules, staying up at the Clarets expense. This case is currently at appeal, with Everton likely attempting to reduce the settlement, but this sets a timely precedent.

If you're being draconian, as a starting point, all prize money Manchester City have accumulated during this period via various competitions should be handed back and redistributed among the clubs but, of the three parts, this is the one that is most difficult to solve and is likely to provide the least satisfactory outcome.

Were this to be the case, how would English football change going forward? Well, with no Man City in the league, an extra Champions League spot is up for grabs, while everyone will believe they have a far greater chance of winning a domestic cup. In terms of Premier League titles, reigning champions Arsenal have to be best placed to dominate, if we do get to live in a Man City-free Premier League for a bit, given they have the most settled squad and manager out of all the contenders.

As Gooners, we should just be thankful every single day that Mikel Arteta's team did get over the line on the pitch last season, before any of this news broke, beating Pep Guardiola, Rodri, Bernardo Silva and everyone else on the pitch, ruining their farewells and proving it is possible to win fairly.