Man City 115 charges latest amid Arsenal title battle as fresh verdict claim made

Arsenal sit top of the Premier League ahead of Manchester City but Pep Guardiola's side have had a dark cloud over them following the long-standing Premier League charges

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has claimed a decision regarding Manchester City's 115 charges is edging closer. Arsenal are among City's Premier League rivals awaiting the verdict from the case as it continues to rumble on.

The North West club faced extensive evidence-gathering after being charged by the Premier League for over 115 offences during a period between 2009 and 2018. City have been steadfast in their belief that they haven't been guilty of any wrongdoing but the accusations have led to widespread criticism and suggestions that they should be subject to points deductions and relegation.

The timeline for the much-anticipated decision remains unclear but as it stands, Arsenal sit five points clear of City in the Premier League title race with Mikel Arteta's side in the driving seat to end their two-decade wait to return to the summit of English football.

Maguire says that a decision regarding City's charges is impending after the prosecution and the defence had to trawl through an estimation half-a-million pieces of evidence.

He said: "The hearing took place over a period of around about 10 weeks, we reckon there's probably about half a million pieces of evidence that were presented by both the prosecution and the defence. The hearings finished in the second week of December so we're now 14 months with silence.

"So, by the cases similar to a fraud case, I think we're probably into the final reaches of getting a decision. I think part of the challenge has been that because there are three very senior people who are on the court, who are making that final judgement, getting those three together at the same time is actually very difficult.

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"So that's delayed the case, it should be resolved in the next few months, but we said this before, Pep was saying in last February that he was expecting something. There's an awful lot of evidence to go through and the charges are very, very serious so you've got enough evidence.

"I absolutely agree if it comes out the week before the end of the season, it would be catastrophic in many ways. From what I understand, both the Premier League and Manchester City will probably be given 24 hours notice of the verdict to allow their lawyers to go away and just check the small print of it.

"Then it could be at point in time, it could be on the day of the World Cup final for all we know. The Premier League are completely out of this because they simply ask the commission to take place and they have no involvement at all."

Between 2009 and 2018, City won the Premier League three times including the dramatic triumph over Manchester United in 2012.

Liverpool and the Red Devils also fell behind City in the quest to become champions in 2014 and 2018 respectively. It wasn't until Pep Guardiola took charge that the club obtained a stranglehold at the pinnacle of English football.

But Maguire expects the decision to be complex, whatever the result. He said: "We've got well over a hundred charges. We've got well over 115 charges when you actually go through the small print.

"So what happens if it's 70-50 in terms of favour of the Premier League or favour of Manchester City? Certainly, when we had Manchester City themselves effectively charge the Premier League with these associated party transaction (APT) rules, both the Premier League and the club were claiming it as a victory trying to sort of sift that into some form of logic is going to be challenging.

"For example, if Manchester City are found guilty of non-cooperation, which I think is fairly likely as far as their relationship with the Premier League is concerned, they're likely to get a significant fine because that's what we saw happen with UEFA and the deductions there. If it's a points deduction, I think the Premier League will claim it is a victory. So we'll just have to wait and see."

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