Premier League rivals plan legal action against Man City after 114-charge guilty verdict

Premier League clubs are planning potential legal action against Manchester City after the club was found guilty of breaching 114 financial regulations, with rivals seeking compensation for the competitive and financial damage suffered during the nine-year period under investigation.

According to The Athletic, one scenario under consideration would see all affected clubs unite in a class action. Manchester United have already begun examining their options, with sources indicating the club has been specifically scrutinising the seasons in which City’s misconduct most directly cost them — chief among them the 2011/12 campaign, when Sergio Agüero’s stoppage-time goal snatched the title from United on the final day.

City claimed eight Premier League titles from the 2011/12 season onwards, along with domestic cups and a Champions League. The legitimacy of those triumphs is now under scrutiny, and clubs that finished as runners-up during that period stand to have missed out on prize money and other revenue streams as a direct consequence.

City’s 100-point season — during which United finished second — also falls within the investigation window, as does the campaign played behind closed doors during the Covid-19 pandemic, though that season came after 2018, the final year covered by the charges.

Any legal action from rival clubs is expected to follow an anticipated appeal from City, meaning the process could be protracted. City remain the only party to have issued a public statement on the verdict; the Premier League has declined to comment.

Former United defender Rio Ferdinand made his feelings clear on social media, calling for medals to be retrospectively awarded and suggesting that managers José Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjær — both in charge during seasons United finished behind City — deserved recognition. Ferdinand also argued that Ryan Giggs should hold 14 Premier League titles in total.