Experts give thoughts on whether Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal will be given trophies if Man City lose 115 charges case

A group of experts were asked to give their thoughts on a number of topics relating to Manchester City's 115 charges case, which included whether the club will be stripped of any Premier League titles.

Back in February 2023, the Premier League charged Manchester City with breaking financial fair play rules over a nine-year period, which started in 2009 and went on until 2018.

City allegedly failed to provide accurate financial information, according to the Premier League, while the club have denied any wrongdoing and claim they have an "irrefutable body of evidence" that will prove them innocent.

A private hearing was held in December but a verdict has still not been reached, with suggestions that a timeframe between the hearing and the judgment would take months given the sheer volume of information involved.

Earlier this year, Sky News reporter Rob Harris spoke to some of the world's top football finance experts to discuss what they think will happen regarding the case.

One of the questions that cropped up at the Business of Football summit in February was around Premier League titles and whether City could have them stripped.

Matt Hughes, formerly of the Times, said there seems to be "no appetite to take retrospective punishment", while Simon Leaf, who is the Head of Sport and Commercial & Technology Lawyer at Mishcon de Reya, said it was still too early to say.

"I suspect there will be certain clubs looking at this and saying, actually we would have been entitled to payments for qualifying for Champions League... or even bonuses from sponsors from finishing in a different position," he said.

Experienced journalist Martin Lipton, meanwhile, said he would be "very surprised" if City were to be stripped of titles as it would potentially undermine the Premier League's history.

"If you were to strip titles, the single most iconic moment in the history of the Premier League - Sergio Aguero's 94th minute goal against QPR to win the league - didn't happen," he added. "You can't rewrite history to that extent."

Lipton added that title stripping is just "not going to happen".

Guardiola lifts Premier League title. Image credit: Getty

Back in October, Jose Mourinho opened up on the idea of adding another Premier League title to his CV as he reminded everyone that his Manchester United side finished second to City in the 2017/18 Premier League campaign.

Speaking in a press conference, Mourinho said: "I think we still have a chance to win that league because maybe they punish Man City with points, and maybe we win that league. Then they have to pay me the bonus and give me my medal."