![Khaldoon Al Mubarak, chairman of the Manchester City football team, chats with then-Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham during the Vincent Kompany testimonial match on September 11, 2019 [Alex Livesey/Getty Images]](https://cityreports.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/getty_6acd1c7e68-1791827070-768x512.jpg "Premier League brings in ‘treasury devil’ to battle with Man City over 115 charges")
Manchester City‘s long-running financial fair play saga is no longer just a legal headache for the Etihad Stadium, it could end up reshaping the entire landscape of Premier League ownership, with knock-on effects stretching as far as Old Trafford.
The Sky Blues have already been found guilty of breaching 114 of the 115 charges brought against them, covering alleged financial wrongdoing between 2009 and 2018.
City strenuously deny any wrongdoing and have lodged an appeal, but with a final sanction still pending, speculation over the scale of the punishment – and its ripple effects across English football – continues to grow.
A verdict that could trigger an industry-wide reset
According to a report in The Independent, journalist Miguel Delaney has laid out how the City case, whichever way it ultimately falls, is likely to force change well beyond Manchester.
Much of the uncertainty centres on City’s Abu Dhabi ownership, with suggestions that a severe sanction could prompt the current regime to consider selling up altogether.
Delaney wrote that the City case is “viewed as inevitably bringing some kind of reset” to the English game, regardless of the final outcome.
Even a modest shift, he suggested, could open up what has become an almost permanently reserved Champions League berth, while also forcing clubs across the division to revisit their own financial projections.
There remains a significant caveat, however. Should City’s appeal succeed and the club be cleared, or have the charges substantially reduced, the dynamic shifts entirely – potentially leaving City not only vindicated but emboldened at the centre of the Premier League’s commercial hierarchy once again.
It’s a scenario, Delaney noted, that has left plenty of prospective club owners and investors watching closely before committing to any deals of their own.
He said: “A lot of people are waiting to see how that case concludes, especially since it could see the Abu Dhabi ownership sell up, too. No matter what happens, the very nature of the City story is viewed as inevitably bringing some kind of reset.
“Even in the most basic terms, a usually locked-in Champions League place may be opened, and that for a few years. Financial projections can be altered.
“Should City unexpectedly prove successful in their appeal, though, they’re back in the centre of all of this and potentially emboldened. Many prospective ownerships and investors want to see how this lands before acting.”
What it could mean for a Manchester United takeover
The report also points to a deeper layer of consequence should City face a forced sale as part of any punishment. That outcome, it’s claimed, would spark a far wider conversation about state and state-linked ownership in English football.
It will have a direct relevance to Manchester United, who have been the subject of persistent takeover speculation since Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS group took a minority stake in the club.
Should regulators move to restrict state-backed investment in the wake of the City verdict, it would, according to the report, “change the market” by lowering the “overall ceiling” on what such buyers are prepared or able to pay.
With reports suggesting as many as eight Premier League clubs are currently up for sale in some capacity, any shift in the rules around who can buy – and how much they might offer – would be felt well beyond the Etihad.
