Pep Guardiola exit could be just the start of worst-case scenario for Manchester City after FFP breaches

Via Twitter, one supporter promised to buy one of the lawyers a pint the next time he was in Manchester. Another posted pictures of the quintet of legal representatives with the caption: “Best five-a-side team ever.”

That was, of course, back in July 2020. Now, City’s legal team have another battle on their hands, and the club’s fans will be desperately hoping that they succeed once more.

Why? Because the stakes involved in City’s battle with the Premier League could not be higher.

Throughout the majority of his six and a half-year spell in charge of City, Pep Guardiola has fielded questions about his club’s finances even though most of the allegations pertain to the era before his time in charge.

Ferran Soriano, the chief executive, rarely does interviews so it always falls to Guardiola to speak publicly on the matter. Each time, he has defended the club to the hilt, taking pot shots at those who claim that City have cheated their way to success.

Even Guardiola’s hometown club, Barcelona, were on the receiving end of a jibe from the City manager, after the former president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, thanked Uefa for investigating the Premier League champions.

“Don’t talk too loud, Barcelona,” Guardiola snapped in February 2020 when City were initially charged by Uefa.

Guardiola has been asked about City’s finances on dozens of occasions, but his most telling answer on the topic came in a press conference on May 7 last year when he was asked if he would consider quitting if it transpired that the club’s hierarchy had lied to him over Financial Fair Play.

“When I’m asked about suspicions [about wrongdoing] or if our people have done something, then I say to them [the hierarchy], ‘Tell me,’ ” Guardiola said.

“I said to them, ‘If you lie to me, the day after I’m not here, I will be out and you will not be my friend any more.’ But I look at them and believe them 100 per cent.”

If we are to take Guardiola’s words at face value – and there is no reason not to – it seems that he would jump ship if he found out the club were lying to him regarding City’s finances.

If Guardiola were to leave, that would clearly be a seismic blow to City, but it is possible that even more hardship would follow.

The doomsday scenario here for City involves Guardiola leaving, a host of star players following him out of the door, the club being stripped of their recent titles and relegation from the Premier League.

The noises coming out of City yesterday (Monday) suggested that the club were confident that they would not receive such a punishment, however.

The mood at the City Football Academy (CFA) was one of defiance and anger. Anger at the timing of the announcement – City suspect the Premier League are flexing its muscles to show the government that they do not need wider regulation, as has been mooted in a White Paper.

They are defiant because they and their army of lawyers are convinced that they will be cleared of all wrongdoing. They managed to get their Uefa ban overturned by CAS, so in their minds, why should they not be able to do so in this instance?

Expect Guardiola to strike a similar tone at his next press conference at 1.30pm on Friday.

The more immediate problem for Guardiola is that there is a serious chance that his players – most of whom are out of form at present – will be distracted by talk of relegation.

In the canteen, the gym and recovery areas in the first-team building, there are televisions showing Sky Sports News. Yesterday (Monday), the channel was running an almost constant discussion about the City case and its possible ramifications. It would only be natural for the players – who were in training as normal – to wonder how the case will affect their futures.

It would be wise – if the club have not already done so – to gather the players together and assure them that they are confident of beating the Premier League in court.

Players’ agents will, in all likelihood, have spent the past 24 hours checking the fine print of their clients’ contracts to see if there is a way of getting their players out if City are relegated.

The next few months will be a huge test for Guardiola, those above him, and the legal experts appointed to defend the club.

– The Times

Originally published as Pep Guardiola exit could be just the start of worst-case scenario for Manchester City after FFP breaches