Man City charges LIVE: Premier League face 'worst case scenario' after 'surprise' decision claim

Manchester City news as the Premier League charges case continues to hang over Enzo Maresca's side and all their matches

Hello and welcome to the Manchester City charges live blog on Mirror Football .

The "worst-case scenario" of City lifting the Premier League trophy seven months after being found guilty of all their serious breaches of financial rules "cannot be ruled out", according to one high-level source spoken to by The i Paper.

Sports lawyer Andrei Kampff has also acknowledged while speaking to Trivela that "the novelty of the case opens the door to a decision that may surprise, but needs to be well justified".

Stay with us throughout the day for all the latest news and updates on City's case...

12:30Matthew Abbott

Villa vs City underway as Maresca makes four changes from AEK

Erling Haaland, Iliman Ndiaye, Jeremy Doku and Marc Guehi all return for City at Villa Park. Allan and Floyd Samba drop out of the matchday squad, while Phil Foden and Rico Lewis are named among the substitutes.

City XI: Donnarumma; Khusanov, Dias, Guehi, Gvardiol; Anderson, Fernandez; Ndiaye, Cherki, Doku; Haaland

Villa have also made four changes, with Boubacar Kamara, Ian Maatsen, Johan Manzambi and Matty Cash starting at Villa Park. Emiliano Buendia, Ibrahim Mbaye, Ross Barkley and Tyrone Mings all drop down to the bench this afternoon.

Villa XI: Suzuki, Cash, Lindelof, Torres, Maatsen, Gomes, Kamara, McGinn, Manzambi, Alysson, Jackson

12:00Matthew Abbott

City matches 'will lose their value in terms of the interest'

Glen Johnson believes football fans will lose interest in City matches, telling PariuriX.com:

I think the matches against Man City will lose their value in terms of the interest from the people. The teams and the clubs will want to beat Man City more than ever now, but for the fans, Man City used to be a team you wanted to watch.
To be fair, the players are still someone you would want to watch, but people will turn their back on the club because of what they have been doing. I don't care about watching their games anymore. Like, I don't care. It's just not the same.
Obviously, they are still a fantastic side, and it is not the players' fault, but it is not a team you want to watch anymore. I really don't care. I can imagine a lot of fans are feeling the same way.

11:30Matthew Abbott

City now ready to reignite transfer interest in Chelsea star

Manchester City will make a move for Malo Gusto this winter if Chelsea drop their asking price, according to TEAMtalk.

The Blues reportedly wanted £70million for their player last summer, which is more than any club has paid for a right-back before. Achraf Hakimi remains the most expensive five years after joining Paris Saint-Germain from Inter in a deal worth almost £ 60 million.

City are said to be keen to pursue Gusto in the New Year if they do not receive a transfer ban before then due to their Premier League charges. The window opens on New Year's Day.

11:00Matthew Abbott

'City have to lose all the players they shouldn't even have'

Glen Johnson believes any punishment should see City lose all of their players, telling PariuriX.com:

I am not sure what the right punishment would be, but I don't think it should be financial, because what is the point then? Give them a £50m fine? That would be a drop in the ocean, so what's the point?
I think it can only be points, relegation, something on those lines. It has to last a long time, so they are losing all their players, you know, losing the players they shouldn't even have. It has to be something that will take them a long time to recover from.

10:30Matthew Abbott

Premier League being advised by top Government barrister

Law firm Slaughter and May, as well as King's Counsel Sir James Eadie, have been advising the Premier League for several months, according to The Lawyer.

Sir James is said to have made more Supreme Court appearances in the United Kingdom than any other advocate over the last decade. He has been the First Treasury Counsel, a private practitioner barrister who represents the Government in the civil courts as instructed by the Treasury Solicitor, since 2009. Eadie was the first person to be appointed directly to the position while already a Queen's Counsel (now King's Counsel), replacing Philip Sales (now Lord Sales).

10:00Matthew Abbott

'Steven Gerrard wouldn't want to win Premier League this way'

Glen Johnson says Steven Gerrard would not want to win the Premier League retrospectively, telling PariuriX.com:

Not getting the title in 2013/14 is just one of those things that is unfortunate. At the time, we did everything to win the league and clearly should have done. We worked so hard every day because we wanted to lift the trophy because we deserved it after giving everything, sweat, tears and blood, but that was when the passion was there, not now. Man City just needs to be punished correctly.
It would be the same for a guy like Steven Gerrard. He wouldn't want to win it this way. We all just wanted to win it at the time. To do it retrospectively because someone cheated would just feel like they shouldn't be allowed to have it in the first place. Man City just need to be punished in the right way. We can't do anything about it now. Even if they gave us the trophy now, it wouldn't be the same.

09:30Matthew Abbott

City 'not bluffing' as bullishness and confidence explained

The Manchester Evening News' chief Manchester City writer Simon Bajkowski has explained why the club are so publicly bullish about their appeal and whether that confidence continues behind the scenes, saying:

There are plenty of people who work at City who haven't seen the evidence that the club have - given that it is so confidential, so how confident they feel about it depends on how close they are to the executives that have seen it. Khaldoon Al Mubarak and Ferran Soriano may ultimately be proved wrong but they are not bluffing, which is why their words have been accepted by the players.

09:00KEY EVENT

Surprise' decision claim made due to 'novelty of the City case'

Sports lawyer Andrei Kampff has spoken to Trivela about the City case, saying:

Comparison requires distinguishing excess losses, deliberate concealment and duration of conduct. City has the aggravating factor of non-cooperation (in the investigations). The novelty of the case opens the door to a decision that may surprise, but needs to be well justified.

Kampff added:

The right of defense must be fully preserved, but it cannot be confused with the right to prevent or hinder the legitimate exercise of sports inspection.

The lawyer concluded:

Fair play needs to be a coercive instrument of prohibited conduct. […] The deduction of points should have a concrete effect, including the possible consequence of relegation.

08:30KEY EVENT

Premier League face 'worst case scenario' on Manchester City

A "worst-case scenario" of Manchester City winning the Premier League title this season still "cannot be ruled out", according to one high-level source who The i Paper claims to have spoken to.

The league understandably want any sanctions to be applied before the end of this season and the case to conclude. However, there is apparently a growing fear that it will not be resolved before the end of May.

It is said that City are prepared to exhaust every legal option. Going outside of the ongoing official processes and taking it to the High Court is reportedly considered realistic.

08:08Matthew Abbott

Morning! It's another Premier League matchday for Manchester City

Manchester City are in action this afternoon for the fifth time since an independent commission found the club guilty of all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League's financial rules over a nine-season period between 2009/10 and 2017/18.

Enzo Maresca's side face Aston Villa at Villa Park from 12:30pm, hoping to win an eighth consecutive match to start this season. City's only loss this season was to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League ten days ago, but Ipswich Town gave them a game last time out in the league, scoring twice away from home before being beaten 3-2.