The Cityzens face a huge crisis behind the scenes, with the mood said to be ‘sombre’ in the club, as staff fear redundancies and sackings after they were found guilty – and giant star players will be next
Man City are facing a mass walkout of their star players after the club was found guilty of 114 charges.
The Cityzens face a huge crisis behind the scenes, with the mood said to be “sombre” in the club, as staff fear redundancies and sackings after they were found guilty of 114 charges relating to breaches of the Premier League’s financial regulations.
But it isn’t just those behind the scenes that could be leaving the northern club after the scandal, with fears all the big name players could jump ship including the likes of Semenyo and Haaland. City had initially been charged with 115 breaches, but it is understood they have been found guilty on all but one of those.
The punishment is yet to be dealt – and City are expected to appeal – but it is expected that process will be quicker and the sanctions applied imminently. Among the punishments include fines, points deductions that could lead to relegations or even expulsion from the Premier League.
The eight times Champions could also lose a large number of their Premier League titles after they were found guilty of cheating their way to the top.
Any significant punishment could result in some of the club’s biggest stars leaving including Norweigian striker Erling Haaland who has eight years left on his 10-year, £500,000-a-week contract with City – though it is believed he will have release clauses written in, especially if City face relegation.
City spent over £450m in the transfer market this summer, with two players signing for over £100m. Fernandez joined from Chelsea in a record £125m move at the end of the window while Elliot Anderson was sold for £116 million from Nottingham Forest. Midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi also moving from Lille for £85 million.
Everton striker Iliman Ndiaye and Palmeiras winger Allan were among other stars to complete transfers in a record-breaking window. A significant financial penalty could also result in City being forced to sell as well as transfer bans expected for a number of seasons.
Rival fans have lined up to poke fun at the team, with the majority saying the book should be thrown at them to save the integrity of the Premier League.
One wrote: “Oasis touring and City in league 2. 90s are back” while another added: “LOL at Noel Gallagher having to head to Crawley away.”
One person asked: “What was the one charge they were found not guilty on?” and someone answered: “Overcrowding”, poking fun at the hordes of empty seats seen in the City ends home and away. Someone else added: “Twitter was made for days like today. Stupendous.”
Another said: “Haaland getting man-marked by some 34 year old bricklayer at Deepdale on a Tuesday night. Cherki trying six roulettes on a cabbage patch at Stoke before getting launched into the advertising boards. Anderson discovering that nobody at Millwall gives a f*** about his progressive carries. Doku doing 14 stepovers at The Den just for a bloke called Gaz to two foot the ball into Row Z.
” Foden trying to find space between the lines while Preston have nine men behind the f***** ball. I lived for this.”
Liam Gallagher replied to the breaking news on X, writing: “Get your OASIS tickets bought and stop talking out your f****** a***.”
And even the New York mayor joined in the fun. Zohran Kwame Mamdani wrote simply: “114.”
And those closest to the club fear all “hell is going to break loose” Former City financial advisor Stefan Borson has claimed ‘anything is possible” and thinks relegation is likely.
Borson, who advised Man City between 2002 and 2007, was asked by talkSPORT whether relegation from the Premier League was on the table as a possible punishment following the decision.
He said: “Anything is possible and all hell is now going to break loose, as this is going to go on for weeks and weeks and weeks. It is going to be very hard for City to say anything or to contain the fallout from this scenario and that is without being able to see what is in this decision.
“We will almost certainly soon see the decision of the independent commission laid out in great detail, it will give people huge ammunition to attack those individuals and the club. Then we will go into the process, which will be behind closed doors, around the sanction.
‘”Man City have denied everything all the way through, they have gone through a process that may have cost more than £100m between the two parties and they have been found to have breached everything. They are in very, very serious trouble.”