Could Jürgen Klopp really soon be fetching the beers? A guilty verdict for Manchester City could have massive repercussions
Manchester City were reportedly found guilty by an independent commission on 114 of 115 charges over breaches of financial rules. This could have huge repercussions.
"The Damned United" is not a documentary. A number of the real-life protagonists dispute the story David Peace tells in his bestselling novel. On one point, though, almost everyone agrees: in July 1974, during one of his first training sessions as Leeds United's new manager, Brian Clough really did stand in front of an undeniably talented but notoriously aggressive group of players and tell them they could throw all their medals in the bin because they had not won any of them fairly.
"You achieved all that through bloody cheating," Clough, played by Michael Sheen, says in the film adaptation of the bestseller, referring more to Leeds' supposedly "dirty" style of play than to any form of corruption.
You've probably seen this clip doing the rounds on social media again recently, only now it's being linked to Manchester City, who, as The Athletic first reported, were found guilty on all but one of the 115 charges brought against the club in February 2023 for breaching the Premier League's financial rules.
Manchester City's breaches: Premier League could lose credibility
This is no laughing matter. It is a serious issue with the potential to reshape the future of English football by rewriting its past. So while the Premier League reportedly secured a victory over Manchester City, it will hardly feel like one worth celebrating. The credibility of the competition it runs could be shattered.
Richard Masters and the Premier League have still not made clear what sanctions they will impose on City, who still have the right to appeal. Some sceptical fans of rival clubs suspect the club will get away with a fine and an insignificant points deduction.
Legal experts familiar with the case, however, say that is extremely unlikely. The sport has never seen a financial scandal on this scale. The seriousness of the allegations is unprecedented. The punishment will likely be the same.
Which clubs have previously been punished by the league for financial breaches?
Don't forget that Everton, who received a six-point deduction, and Nottingham Forest, who were docked four, had only been found guilty of minor breaches of the Premier League's financial regulations. Chelsea, by contrast, were only fined over allegations relating to illegal payments to advisers and third parties.
The Blues had effectively reported themselves to the Premier League, because the breaches in question did not concern the current owners but the era under Roman Abramovich. The Clearlake consortium therefore co-operated fully with the investigation at every stage. City did not. The club also insisted on their complete innocence throughout the proceedings, which makes lenient treatment unlikely.
That leaves a real possibility that City will be hit with such a large points deduction that relegation would no longer be merely possible, but likely. Whether titles already won will also be stripped is not yet certain. There are, however, sound arguments that all of City's results between 2009 and 2018, the subject of the investigation, should be declared null and void.
Pep Guardiola pushed back against stripping City of titles they had won
Ultimately, one could argue that nothing that has happened over the past eight years would have been possible without the alleged financial fraud. It laid the costly foundations for City's rise to become the dominant force in English football and, ultimately, for the treble triumph in 2023.
Former City manager Pep Guardiola had previously strongly resisted the idea that the club should be stripped of their titles in the event of a guilty verdict. "Come on! Those moments belong to City, regardless of the verdict," the Catalan argued back in 2023. "Just think about what we achieved. That Sergio Agüero goal [against QPR in 2012], nobody can take that away. I don't know, are we somehow responsible for Steven Gerrard slipping at Anfield?"
Of course not. But City were allegedly responsible for financial fraud that put Manuel Pellegrini's team at the time in a position to benefit from that slip. What's more, the magical moments Guardiola referred to arguably only belonged to City because they were stolen from someone else.
If Manchester City are found guilty: Jürgen Klopp wants to get the beers in
Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has already pointed out that you cannot really take away the memories. The medals and trophies, however, you can. It is telling that Jürgen Klopp, whose Liverpool side were denied two titles by Guardiola's City in the 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons, had previously said that if City were found guilty, he would get the beers in and stage a parade for his former players in his own garden.
More worrying for City are the potential legal and financial consequences. Manchester United, who finished runners-up behind City three times over the past 18 years, are reportedly already examining the economic impact of their city rivals' breaches on their own revenues. It would be surprising if Liverpool, also runners-up three times, and Arsenal, with two "lost" titles, were not doing the same.
How badly would Manchester City's reputation be damaged?
That's not all: City have also repeatedly denied other clubs a place in the top four that would have secured them qualification for the Champions League and the lucrative money that comes with it. At this early stage, it is impossible to put a figure on the potential compensation costs. The same goes for the potentially irreparable damage to the integrity of the Premier League. If the guilty verdict stands, the biggest fraud case in football history threatens to expose the past 18 years of the Premier League as a lie.
One thing is already certain: City's reputation would be ruined. Manchester's memories and titles have not yet been erased. Perhaps that will never happen. At the very least, though, subject to what is expected to be a lengthy appeal process, every triumph could now carry an asterisk. For most neutral observers, that would be enough to make every title completely meaningless. Just like the sprint records of Florence Griffith Joyner or Lance Armstrong's seven Tour de France victories.
