Man City could be RELEGATED ‘around Easter’

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 9 Mar 2025 09:37 GMT
• 4 min read

News

A decision from the trial for Manchester City's alleged 130 breaches of Premier League financial rules could be made around Easter time.

That is according to former Everton CEO Keith Wyness, who now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs and has inside insight on how the next weeks are likely to play out.

A verdict in the much-publicised case is expected imminently, with City being charged with 130 alleged financial breaches.

An independent hearing has officially concluded following a four-year investigation conducted by UEFA.

READ MORE: Will Man City be relegated amidst 130 charges?

Man City have denied any wrongdoing, but the club have been accused of failing to provide accurate financial information from 2009 to 2018, and failing to co-operate from 2018 to 2023.

Wyness believes that the independent panel dealing with the case will decide upon a verdict - which could be relegation - by Easter time. And the verdict will likely be announced in the weeks after.

What did Wyness say?

“It’s a complex case with so many charges and so much evidence.

“I’m expecting some sort of decision on where the liability is around Easter.

“After that, it could be the end of the season before we see any potential sanctions – depending where that liability lies, on Man City or not.

“It’s a fascinating case.

“What has been interesting is that there have been very few leaks on this.

“Normally there is some sort of leak or idea, but it’s been very well-guarded so far. I wish my sources could tell me more, but at the moment I’m afraid there are no real leads.”

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire revealed last month that Manchester City will be relegated if they are found guilty of their alleged 130 breaches of Premier League financial rules.

City have won eight Premier League titles and 24 trophies in total since the Abu Dhabi United Group purchased the club in 2008, spending over €2.5 billion on new players in the process.

However, according to Maguire, they will be relegated from the Premier League if the trial results in a guilty verdict.

"A points deduction would be the most likely outcome should the club be found guilty,” Maguire said on the Football on Trial: The Manchester City Charges podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live.

"As for the quantum of points deduction, if Everton were initially given a 10 points deduction for going around about £10/12 million over the limits in one particular season, I think, in order to set an example to the rest of football, it's got to act as a deterrent.

"We'll probably be looking at somewhere in the region of 60 to 100 points, which would effectively guarantee relegation out of the Premier League and into the lower tiers of football in the EFL."

READ MORE: Man City's 10 most expensive transfers of all time

City currently have 47 points in the Premier League this season with 10 games remaining.

This means that even with a 60 point deduction, they would be far too adrift to have any hope of staying up this season.

David Ornstein, though, reported lseveral weeks ago that Man City are confident that they won’t receive anything more than a fine when the verdicts are announced.