Man City 'held settlement talks with Premier League' BEFORE guilty verdict on charges

· Mirror

Manchester City were in dialogue with the Premier League ahead of their guilty verdict on charges

Manchester City reportedly held settlement talks with the Premier League prior to the independent commission delivering their guilty verdict last month. City, still strongly deny any wrongdoing and have appealed the decision after they were found guilty of all but one of the alleged charges.

Now, in a report by Bloomberg, the Premier League side held talks with the top-flight's governing body to discuss an 'early-stage settlement' but those discussions broke down. The report claims that any punishment would have been a hefty financial payment, rather than the stripping of titles and relegation, according to those sourced.

It's claimed those talks quickly fell apart with City adamant about their innocence in the matter. The sheer amount of charges means the reported financial proposal would have only reduced the size of the case, rather than resolved it.

It's claimed that any settlement agreement would also have been strongly opposed by the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United who missed out on titles during City's relentless run of silverware. It's worth adding that agreeing to a settlement would also not have meant any acknowledgement of wrongdoing.

Man City are facing the prospect of severe penalties after the independent commission ruled they had "clearly intended to circumvent Premier League rules" across a nine-season spell.

City were found to have participated in an almost £1billion scheme designed to either artificially boost revenues or cut costs through a string of "sham" arrangements in a bid to sidestep league and UEFA financial regulations.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters branded the case, and the ruling, as "the most significant in Premier League history", with the league's probe having begun back in 2018.

Over 100 charges were brought against City in February 2023, with the commission examining the case between September and December 2024.

The same commission which has delivered its verdict will now determine what sanctions ought to be handed down, while the club swiftly confirmed their plans to appeal, claiming the decision "contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe".

City chief executive Ferran Soriano told staff on a video that the commission had bought into the Premier League's "conspiracy theory".

The club were found by the commission to have run a "disguised funding scheme" in which companies from Abu Dhabi paid a fraction of the amount recorded on the club's accounts, with the remainder settled by Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), the company through which Sheikh Mansour controls the club.

The scheme was found to have artificially inflated revenue by more than £830m across the nine-season spell between 2009-10 and 2017-18. The club were also found to have exaggerated income from image rights by almost £74m, while understating liabilities for staff contracts by almost £17m.

City lodged an appeal and in a statement said:

> "Manchester City Football Club can confirm that at 7pm on Thursday 1st October 2026 the Club lodged its comprehensive Appeal against the opinion of the Premier League Commission, in relation to the Premier League disciplinary matter. > > "The Club’s firm position is that, on multiple grounds, the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe. The Club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case. > > "We will continue to respect due process and are necessarily restricted in what we can say further until all proceedings are complete."

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