ancient Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp laughed off the prospect of his side winning more titles later Manchester City were found guilty of 114 breaches of financial regulations.
The The Premier League confirmed this in a statement on Tuesday that, following a ruling by the independent commission, City had been found guilty of all but one of the charges of financial misconduct brought against the club.
Among the breaches were the creation of “bogus” contracts to help inflate income and cut costs by more than £900m over nine years covering the 2009-10 season to the 2017-18 campaign.
The City Council has until Friday, October 2, to appeal the decision, and will exercise its right to do so. Finally, they could take the case to the High Court and claim that the process was not impartial.
If the city’s appeal fails, there could be several serious penalties. A points deduction that condemns them to relegation to the Championship looks a likely sanction, with a massive fine and restrictions on player signings also distinct possibilities.
The prospect of expulsion from the Premier League has also been raised. This could sentence City out of the league if the EFL refuses to accept them as members, but 15 of the top 20 teams would need to vote in favor of an expulsion motion for it to become a reality.
There have also been calls for City to be retrospectively stripped of the titles they won during that nine-year period.
Klopp’s Liverpool finished second behind Pep Guardiola’s City in 2018-19 and 2021-22. In the period in question, Liverpool lost the 2016 EFL Cup Final to City on penalties.
In a press conference ahead of his country’s match with Serbia, Germany manager Klopp dismissed the idea of receiving more honours, adding that he was satisfied with the successes he enjoyed during a historic tenure at Anfield.
“I’m far from preparing for a title or anything like that,” Klopp said.
“I’m absolutely fine with what we’ve achieved at Liverpool. We’ve fought hard on the pitch. I can’t say more about that because I don’t know the details.”
