Pep Guardiola has revealed that Manchester City expects to learn the outcome of the hearing into its 115 charges of alleged Premier League financial rule breaches ‘in one month’. The Premier League referred City to an independent commission in February 2023 over 115 alleged contraventions of financial rules dating from 2009 to 2018. The Etihad club have always denied any wrongdoing.
The hearing took place in front of an independent commission between September and December. And Guardiola, while speaking about City’s record £180m investment in the transfer market during the winter window, has revealed that an outcome is expected very shortly.
He said: “In one month, I think there will be a verdict and a sentence. After that, we will see my opinion of what happened so far.”
City added Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis, Omar Marmoush and Nico Gonzales to their ranks during the last month. And Guardiola has claimed he was simply strengthening his squad and there were no other reasons behind the splurge.
“My words will not convince people,” he said. “I know with this club it is always ‘just about the money’.
Former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp recently joked he would throw a party should the Premier League strip City of their titles due to breaches of financial regulations. The Reds finished second to Guardiola’s side while under Klopp in 2018/19 and 2021/22.
At his first public appearance as Red Bull’s head of global soccer, the German said: “We had this discussion when I left. I haven’t spent a lot of time in Mallorca because I am always flying around the place.