Four of Manchester City's biggest rivals have reportedly lodged legal notices reserving the right to seek compensation if the Premier League champions lose their ongoing 115 charges hearing.
City's so-called 'Trial of the Century' began on September 16 is thought to be nearing its conclusion, with a final verdict expected in early 2025.
The charges against the Premier League club mainly relate to a nine-year period from 2009 to 2018, with City accused of various rule breaches - all of which the club strenuously deny.
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City have been accused of failing to provide accurate financial information, failing to provide accurate details for player and manager payments, breaching profit and sustainability rules (PSR), failing to comply with UEFA regulations including financial fair play (FFP) and failing to cooperate with Premier League investigations.
City stated before the start of the hearing that they had "irrefutable evidence" to support their defence and were looking "forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all".
Several punishments for City, should they be found guilty of all charges, have been suggested – including fines, points deductions and even expulsion from the Premier League.
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Meanwhile, The Telegraph has claimed the Premier League champions are in danger of being thrown out of other competitions, including the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, if the independent commission overseeing the hearing rules against the club.
Rival clubs could also take legal action against City, with four of English football's biggest sides reserving the right to seek compensation.
A source has told The Times that Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have formally registered possible compensation claims via arbitration.
The compensation notices were served after the clubs were 'advised by lawyers there was a potential six-year statute of limitations period' for claims.
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This deadline stems from November 5, 2018 - the date when German publication Der Spiegel first published the 'Football Leaks' documents - prompting the investigation into City's alleged rule breaches.
All four clubs declined to comment when contacted by The Times.
City manager Pep Guardiola has previously hit out at the club's biggest rivals and accused them of wanting the club to be punished before even seeing the outcome of the hearing.
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After La Liga president Javier Tebas claimed City's rivals wanted to see them sanctioned, Guardiola said in September: "Maybe he's right.
"For the fact that all the Premier League teams want us to be sanctioned, that is for sure.
"I agree with Tebas for the first time, and hopefully the last. I am pretty sure I agree with that. That's why I say to Mr Tebas and the Premier League teams: wait for the independent panel.
"Justice is there in a modern democracy so yeah, wait for the decision, it's not more complicated than that. But I don't know if he is a lawyer or the rest of the Premier League teams are lawyers so what I ask for is that – wait, it happened with UEFA.
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"We believe that we have not done anything wrong so we go to an independent panel and we are going to wait."
Topics: Manchester City, Premier League, FFP, Arsenal, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool
Rory O'Callaghan