Man City points deduction verdict given as Arsenal hope for 115 charges delay

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Arsenal would surely rather see a potential outcome that sees Manchester City deducted points if found guilty of alleged financial breaches come after the conclusion of the current Premier League season

Every month that passes sees yet more frustration grow that the world of football is still yet to get a resolution to the case surrounding Manchester City and their alleged 115-plus financial breaches.

More than three years ago, Manchester City were charged with breaching the Premier League's financial fair play rules over a nine-year period, from 2009 to 2018. The number of charges is, in fact, believed to exceed the infamous 115 number that circulated at the time.

In recent days, the noise around the case has again resurfaced with talk of points deductions again coming to the fore. This is not new, and considered one of the genuine potential sanctions Pep Guardiola’s side could face.

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Football finance specialist Kieran Maguire was speaking on February’s instalment of The Overlap. He indicated a points deduction could be in the 40 to 60 point range.

"The Premier League cannot relegate Manchester City to League One or League Two because that is an EFL decision and Manchester City have not had any charges proven against them by the EFL," Maguire explained.

"Therefore, it has to be a points deduction. If we take a look at precedence, we have had Everton and Nottingham Forest with six and four-point deductions for a single offence covering a three-year period. The accusations against Manchester City cover a nine-year period, so it is far bigger.

"The numbers involved, we are not certain about, but they are likely to be quite significant. I think you have to add a zero to what we've seen in terms of Forest and Everton, so somewhere between a 40 and 60-point deduction would be, on merit to be consistent with what we've seen with other decisions, would make a lot of logic.”

From an Arsenal point of view, the hope will be that any sanctions come after the conclusion of this season. With a nine-point lead at the top of the table, while a points deduction in theory would demote City out of the European spots, perhaps even into a greater period depending on the severity, it would take away something from Arsenal’s hopeful aim of a first league title in 22 years.

While most would argue Arsenal might have indeed gone on to win anyway, with Opta currently giving Arsenal a greater than 97% likelihood of going on to win the league this season, rivals, detractors and critics would surely still point to City’s hypothetical deduction effectively handing the title to the Gunners rather than having them earn it.

Should City be sanctioned either before the start of or during next season, this would be a better outcome for Arsenal. But any sanction could be appealed by the City, potentially delaying the outcome even further.