CITY CHARGES NEXT STEP: Man City trophies will always come with an asterisk - but real punishment still some way off

So, it seems Manchester City have been found guilty of all but one of the 115 charges laid against them by the Premier League.

No shock there. Only we don’t know what the punishments will be. And for some considerable time, we probably won’t. After all, the guilt has not been made official yet. A scoop from a distinguished journalist has finally revealed the initial outcome of what seemed to be an interminable saga.

It has taken eight years from the beginning of the investigation to get to this point. With City certain to appeal, it might take another eight years to find out exactly how they are going to be punished - if they are punished at all.

With no specific details of their transgressions, it is hard to make a call on what the sanctions will be. There were points deductions for Everton and Nottingham Forest for breaches of Profit and Sustainability Rules but City’s case could be different.

Quite simply, clarification from the Premier League is urgently required.

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They announced the punishments for Everton and Forest along with the guilty verdicts. In the case of City, this is what needs to happen right now.

In the meantime, do the guilty verdicts not only tarnish the achievements of the City team during the nine seasons the charges cover, but also the eight seasons since? Of course they do.

If guilt is confirmed, this current era of City excellence has been built on an era during which they cheated. The Sergio Aguero moment occurred during the cheating period but that 2011/12 title win was one of the foundations for further success over later years, for the success in the Pep Guardiola years. According to the commission, those were foundations of deceit. Simple as that.

Judging by their statement, City will continue to try and bury these charges with legal might.

“The Premier League process remains ongoing with significant elements to be completed, and subject to strict confidentiality. As such Manchester City FC’s position remains consistent with the Club’s statement of February 2023.

“The Club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League Board and Executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence.”

But one thing is for certain. The sanctions for City should be announced before any appeal is heard.

Should those sanctions mean titles are stripped away as rival fans are sure to demand? Possibly. But the question is almost certainly irrelevant. Because titles won’t be stripped away. Quite simply, the whole process would disappear deeper into a legal black hole if that was the case.

Should the sanctions be sporting? Yes. But the Premier League have set a precedent by only fining Chelsea for their breaches of financial rules governing the payments of agents.

City would be sure to use that example as an argument why they should not have points deducted.

So, City might be relegated, they might have Premier League titles removed, or they might just be forced to say sorry and pay a fine. They may have a transfer ban, they might be playing in the Manchester and District Sunday League next season.

Who knows? We don’t know because the Premier League has messed up again. The whole thing has taken far too long and now that the verdict is widely known, neither the Premier League nor the club can confirm it.

But according to the independent commission, City have cheated. That is the bottom line.

And does it besmirch all of their achievements over this past couple of decades? Of course it does.

Whatever the practicalities of the sanctions, the most severe - and now unavoidable - punishment is that City’s dominance of English club football’s modern era will have an asterisk next to it.