Could Jürgen Klopp really soon be going to get the beer? A guilty verdict for Manchester City could have massive repercussions

"The Damned United" is not a documentary. The story David Peace tells in his bestselling novel is disputed by a number of the real protagonists. But on one point, almost everyone agrees: in July 1974, during one of his first training sessions as Leeds United's new manager, Brian Clough really did stand in front of an undeniably talented but notoriously aggressive group of players and tell them they could throw all their medals in the bin because they had not won any of them fairly.

"You achieved all that through bloody cheating," Clough, played by Michael Sheen, says in the film adaptation of the bestseller, referring more to Leeds' supposedly "dirty" style of play than to any form of corruption.

You have probably seen this clip doing the rounds on social media again recently, only now it is being linked to Manchester City, who, as The Athletic first reported, were found guilty on all but one of the 115 charges brought against the club in February 2023 for breaching the Premier League's financial rules.

Manchester City breaches: Premier League could lose credibility

This is no laughing matter. It is a serious issue that could fundamentally alter the future of English football by rewriting its past. Because even if the Premier League have reportedly secured a victory over ManCity, it will hardly feel like one worth celebrating. The competition the league runs could lose all credibility.

Richard Masters and the Premier League still have to decide what sanctions to impose on City, who retain the right to appeal. Some sceptical fans of rival clubs suspect the club will escape with a fine and an insignificant points deduction.

Legal experts familiar with the case say that is extremely unlikely, though. The sport has never seen a financial scandal on this scale. The seriousness of the allegations is unprecedented. In all likelihood, the punishment will be too.

Which clubs have previously been punished by the league for financial breaches?

Everton, who were docked six points, and Nottingham Forest, who lost four, were found guilty only of minor breaches of the Premier League's financial regulations. Chelsea, by contrast, were merely fined over allegations linked to illegal payments to advisers and third parties.

The Blues had effectively reported themselves to the Premier League, however, because the breaches in question related not to the current owners but to the Roman Abramovich era. The Clearlake consortium therefore cooperated fully with the investigation at every stage. City did not. The club maintained their complete innocence throughout the proceedings, so lenient treatment is unlikely.

That leaves a real possibility that City could be hit with a points deduction so severe that relegation would no longer be merely possible, but likely. Whether titles already won will also be stripped is not yet certain. There are, however, compelling arguments that all City results between 2009 and 2018, the period under investigation, should be declared null and void.

Pep Guardiola pushed back against stripping City of titles they had won

After all, none of what has happened over the past eight years would, one could argue, have been possible without the alleged financial fraud. It laid the expensive foundations for City's rise into the dominant force in English football and, ultimately, for the Treble triumph in 2023.

Former City manager Pep Guardiola had previously strongly resisted the idea that the club should be stripped of their titles in the event of a guilty verdict. "Come on! Those moments belong to City, regardless of the verdict," the Catalan argued back in 2023. "Just think about what we achieved. That Sergio Agüero goal [against QPR in 2012], nobody can take that away. I don't know, are we somehow responsible for Steven Gerrard slipping at Anfield?"

Of course not. But City were allegedly responsible for financial fraud that enabled Manuel Pellegrini's team at the time to benefit from that slip. And the magical moments Guardiola referred to arguably belonged to City only because they were stolen from someone else.

If Manchester City are proven guilty: Jürgen Klopp wants to get the beers in

Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has already pointed out that you cannot really take away the memories. The medals and trophies, however, you can. It is telling that Jürgen Klopp, whose Liverpool team were denied two titles by Guardiola's City in the 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons, had previously said that if City were found guilty, he would get the beers in and hold a parade for his former players in his own garden.

More worrying for City are the possible legal and financial consequences. Manchester United, who finished runners-up behind City three times in the past 18 years, are reportedly already examining the financial impact of their city rivals' breaches on their own revenue. It would be surprising if Liverpool, also three-time runners-up, and Arsenal, with two "lost" titles, were not doing the same.

How badly would Manchester City's reputation be damaged?

That is not all: City also repeatedly denied other clubs a place in the top four, which would have secured them qualification for the Champions League and the lucrative money that comes with it. At this early stage, it is impossible to put a figure on the potential compensation costs. It is just as impossible to quantify the potentially irreparable damage to the integrity of the Premier League. If the guilty verdict stands, the biggest fraud case in football history threatens to expose the past 18 years of the Premier League as a lie.

One thing is already certain: City's reputation would be ruined. Manchester's memories and titles have not yet been erased. Perhaps that will never happen. At the very least, though, subject to what is expected to be a lengthy appeal process, there could now be an asterisk next to every triumph. In the eyes of most neutral observers, that would make every title entirely meaningless. Like the sprint records of Florence Griffith Joyner or Lance Armstrong's seven Tour de France victories.