TEAR IT HAAL UP! - Haaland and top Man City players told they can RIP UP contracts as lawyer weighs in on damning 115 charges verdict

Barrister Paul Gilroy KC has explained how Manchester City players could be entitled to rip up their contracts following the guilty verdict that has been given. City were found guilty of breaching 114 of the 115 charges that were brought against the club by the Premier League.

City are still denying the charges against them and maintain their innocence, with the club expected to launch an appeal before the deadline on Friday.

The Premier League, as part of their announcement, listed the four predominant areas explaining the reasons why City had been found guilty by an independent commission. One of these areas was City arranging 'sham' contracts with commercial partners, with the allegations dating between 2009 and 2018.

Gilroy appeared on the latest episode of Stick to Football, where he was joined by Gary Neville, Ian Wright, Jamie Carragher, Roy Keane and Jill Scott. Gilroy was asked by Wright how the ongoing case could affect the players in the City squad, including the likes of Erling Haaland, Enzo Fernandez and Elliot Anderson, to name a few.

Wright asked: "Just talking about the individual players who don't know what's going on [in the boardroom], does he have a case?"

Gilroy then responded by explaining: "Definitely, yes, good question, that, on the players' perspective. Every contract of employment, whether it's a footballer or someone who works in a shop, has got an implied term in it. In other words, it's not written down. And the implied term we're talking about here is the term of trust and confidence.

"So if I work for you, you and I must have sufficient trust and confidence in each other to enable that relationship to work.

"If you don't trust me, or I don't trust you, or if you call me a liar and a thief on Tuesday, I can't work for you on a Wednesday - trust and confidence.

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"Now, a player could say 'You have breached the implied term of trust and confidence. You are my employer, you have acted in breach of that term, and that entitles me to say I'm ripping up my contract and I'm walking out.'

"That is a possibility; I've seen commentators saying unlikely, but it depends on so many things. What's the club going to say to the players? How do they sort it out financially? Etc, etc. But arguably, it's certainly a possibility."

Carragher then jokingly chimed in and asked: "So Liverpool could sign Haaland for free next week?"

Gilroy responded by saying: "Yeah, why not?"

Wright then concluded the discussion by jokingly saying: "He might want to come to Arsenal, just because of his mates there..."