Man City 115 Charges Verdict: Which Premier League Titles Could Be Stripped and Who Could Leave?

The verdict surrounding Manchester City’s 115 charges was delivered on Friday. In the midst of the international break, David Ornstein dropped the bombshell of all bombshells as he announced that they were found guilty on all but one of their 115 charges.

It’s a seismic moment for the Premier League and the Cityzens, who were first charged in February 2023 following an investigation into alleged breaches between 2008 and 2019.

While the sanctions haven’t yet been revealed, and Manchester City are expected to appeal, they could yet suffer a points deduction, relegation from the Premier League or be stripped of titles.

City have claimed 20 major titles since Sheikh Mansour bought the club in 2008, including eight league championships and one Champions League. They have won a total of six trophies since the charges were brought forward.

However, it’s not clear whether they would be stripped of titles from when the alleged breaches took place, or from when the charges were initially brought forward.

Who could be Premier League champions?

The charges specifically target the window between 2008 and 2019, and the immediate focus would be on the three titles won in that 11-year period.

That would see Manchester United crowned champions in the 2011/12 season, gaining a 14th Premier League title in the process. The famous ‘Aguerooo!’ moment would be wiped from the history books, though not the memory of City fans in attendance that day.

Additionally, Liverpool would win the 2013/14 title, which would hand Steven Gerrard his one and only Premier League trophy. Fans remember his infamous slip in the defeat to Chelsea, but it's a moment that wouldn’t have mattered.

Finally, Jose Mourinho would earn another Premier League winners’ medal, with Manchester United’s second-place finish in the 2017/18 campaign upgraded to first.

However, if upgraded to cover the domestic successes for the period up until 2024, then a further five titles would be distributed.

Liverpool’s 97-point side under Jurgen Klopp would earn a winners’ medal in 2018/19. They’d earn another in 2021/22 having finished just a point behind City, and a season after United’s 2020/21 potential success.

Arsenal, meanwhile, would be crowned champions in both the 2022/23 and 2023/24 season after successive second-place finishes under Mikel Arteta.

And having won a number of domestic titles, the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, and Tottenham Hotspur, among others, would push to be awarded respective trophies if they are no longer considered Premier League champions on eight separate occasions.

What players could leave Man City?

Ultimately, any number of City players leaving would be dependent on whether or not they are immediately relegated. It would be nigh-on impossible to see a number of their star players willing to hang around at the Etihad Stadium in the Championship, or lower.

With that, a number of first-team players could seek a move away from the Manchester giants. Erling Haaland would undoubtedly be one of those to leave the club. Similarly, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki could well leave for pastures new.

Summer signings Enzo Fernandez, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Iliman Ndiaye, Elliot Anderson and Allan’s respective futures would be thrown into doubt. The same applies to English trio Phil Foden, Nico O’Reilly and Marc Guehi.

Other stars such as Jeremy Doku, Mateo Kovacic, Abdukodir Khusanov, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Matheus Nunes could also seek an exit. A number of younger players may well remain to aid City’s potential promotion push.

Conversely, the City stars may show some loyalty to the cause and instead remain in Manchester.

Take, for example, Juventus in 2006. The Serie A giants were relegated to Serie B as a result of the Calciopoli scandal. A number of key players had been tipped to leave, and while the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Fabio Cannavaro and Patrick Vieira departed; Gianluigi Buffon, Pavel Nedved, Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet all stayed.

The Old Lady made an immediate return to Serie A, going up as champions with Didier Deschamps at the helm.

It remains to be seen what happens next for City, with speculation surrounding the club’s future rife. However, the next few months will be testing for the Cityzens, who need to gear up for a rough period in the club’s history.