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A financial expert has chimed in on Man City's ongoing case(Image: YouTube/The Overlap)

A football finance expert has hinted that the ongoing Manchester City case is being delayed by lawyers who are taking their time due to their massive wage bill.

The Premier League has charged City with violating financial fair play rules over a nine-year span, starting in 2009 and ending in 2018.

The club has also been accused of not cooperating with the investigation into their finances, with the specific rule breaches totalling 115.



However, many fans and ex-players are growing impatient about the potential City ruling and are eager to learn the outcome.

On The Overlap Fan Debate, Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher and former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes asked guest Kieran Maguire - a football finance expert - for an update on City's charges, and he painted a picture of the case.

"When it does come out, I think the big fear is that you get the verdict as to whether they're guilty or innocent of the 115 charges, but you don't get told what the punishment is - that could take longer," said Maguire.

"If you look at some court cases, somebody will be found guilty or not guilty, and then the judge goes away and considers it." Maguire, who presents The Price of Football podcast, also highlighted the lack of clarity on when the decision will be announced, reports the Manchester Evening News.

"I think that would really set the cat amongst the pigeons, but in terms of the actual date, I think Pep said that it was going to be in March - well, we've got to the end of March and no news.

If I'm on £3,000-£5,000 an hour, I'm not going to hurry a decision as to when the result is going to come out.

"There's certainly a desire from the Premier League for it to come out [before the end of the season], because otherwise, we've got a hangover over the summer in terms of where does this leave clubs.

City could be slapped with a points deduction(Image: Michael Regan, Getty Images)

"If it comes out in July, for example, and Manchester City are given a 40 or 50-point deduction, then presumably one of Leicester or Ipswich will be saying, 'Well, if that had come out earlier, then we would have avoided relegation' - so, therefore, they might be putting in a legal case."

He pointed out that in the event City is found guilty of breaching financial regulations, the consequences are likely to be more severe than those faced by other clubs.

For context, Everton's 10-point deduction, later reduced to six on appeal, was followed by an additional two points docked last season, while Nottingham Forest received a four-point deduction in the same campaign.

Maguire elaborated: "The tariffs that we've seen from the commissions for both Everton and Forest said the way forward is no point in fining a billionaire owner a few quid - because there's no disincentive there to misbehave.

"If you read the commission reports from cover to cover, they both say that these were minor breaches of the rules and what Manchester City are being accused of is corporate fraud over the period of nearly a decade.

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"So if guilty, you've got to add a zero to the points deductions that we've seen for Forest and Everton.

If not guilty, there's going to be a lot of trouble.

"Ultimately, there's going to be a penalty [if it happens] and that penalty is going to be decided by the commission.
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