Man City might hand Gary Neville his wish in 115 Premier League charges battle

Manchester City are seated top of the table but know that focus will quickly switch to the independent commission from Monday as their battle with the Premier League begins.

Pep Guardiola said he is “happy” that the hearing is finally commencing. The City boss has had to frequently address the elephant lurking in the room throughout all of his club’s achievements since February 2023, when the 115 financial allegations were first levelled.

Man City are adamant they are innocent on all counts but Guardiola has suggested that every other top-flight club is eager for the Blues to be punished. "For the fact that all the Premier League teams want us to be sanctioned, that is for sure," he claimed on Friday.

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"That's why I say to… Premier League teams: wait for the independent panel. We believe that we have not done anything wrong so we go to an independent panel and we are going to wait."

The ramifications for both an innocent or a guilty verdict are seismic, and either will tarnish the gloss of the Premier League. Time will tell whether the League was right to bring forward the charges, but it has backed itself into a corner by doing so.

Win the independent panel hearing, and the competitive reputation of the League between 2009 and 2018 - the mass timeframe relating to the charges - is tainted.

Man City’s three title wins in that nine-year period could be stripped but would at the very least have an asterisk next to them. A dent in the Premier League’s brand.

If the Premier League loses the case, then all trust in