Manchester City and their Premier League rivals could still be waiting for more than a year for a resolution over the 115 charges levelled against the club. Former Aston Villa, Liverpool and Chelsea chief Christian Purslow believes the situation has considerable distance left to run as the parties await a judgement – but he says a points deduction could be inbound.

The club’s legal dispute with the Premier League has yet to reach a conclusion despite the independent hearing drawing to a close. City were charged with allegedly breaching financial regulations from 2009 to 2018. City maintain their innocence, and face up to 130 potential breaches despite it often being referred to as 115 charges.

Between 2009 and 2018, the club won three Premier League titles. Despite the process already dragging on, Purslow is not anticipating a swift resolution. Speaking on ‘The Football Boardroom’, co-hosted by journalist Henry Winter, he said: “This first panel has shown that predicting timetables is a fool’s errand.

“In the scenario that there are any guilty findings, and in that scenario, Manchester City choose perfectly reasonably to appeal under Premier League appeal rules that will move forward, and that could be another three, six, nine, or 12 months at least.” Crucially, at the same moment they are reviewing the decision, even in the scenario of any guilty findings, then the question of sanctioning would most likely be pushed down the road.”

Purslow has also made clear that any potential punishment or settlement will not be straightforward. “I don’t think these matters get resolved, by the way that the APT [Associated Party Transaction] case did, in an out-of-court settlement between the Premier League and Manchester City,” he said.

“I want to be really clear on that. I think it would be a terrible mistake for the Premier League to be tempted … both sides think, ‘You know what, let’s just reach an agreement for a reasonable sanction, a reasonable settlement, and move on’.

“I think that would be a terrible mistake. It would be impossible to keep everybody happy.

“The smart decision is, if I’m the chairman of the Premier League, let’s leave it to the lawyers. Let’s leave it to the process, which everybody signed up to.

“My point is a simple one. When this is left to the judges, however frustrating it is that it takes so long, it will be in the land of precedent.

“The precedent is sporting sanction. The sporting sanction is likely to be major points deductions, which ultimately could translate into relegation.”

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