Kieran Maguire predicts Man City case could drag on for ‘years’ as settlement possibility raised

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire believes City’s legal battle with the Premier League could continue for “years”, with the cost of the dispute potentially increasing pressure for a negotiated settlement.

City are appealing after an independent commission found the club guilty of 114 of the 115 original charges brought against them by the Premier League. City maintain their innocence and are challenging the verdict, leaving considerable uncertainty over when the case and any subsequent sanction will finally be resolved.

Maguire predicts lengthy Man City battle

Speaking to Football365, Maguire said he expected the uncertainty to continue for “not just months but years”. Premier League rules set out a timetable for the appeal, but the complexity of the case has prompted doubts over how quickly it can realistically be completed.

James Severn, a partner at Penningtons Manches Cooper and member of the London Solicitors Litigation Association, told Football365 that the suggested January deadline would be a “stretch”, pointing to the thousands of documents involved. Maguire also raised the possibility that the cost of a prolonged legal battle could eventually influence the position of other Premier League clubs.

He questioned whether costs potentially reaching £25million a year might lead the league to ask its members whether they wanted it to explore a settlement with City. There is no suggestion that the Premier League and City are currently negotiating such an agreement, and Maguire’s comments were presented as a possible scenario rather than evidence of talks.

City could also challenge any eventual sanction and potentially pursue further legal avenues, increasing the possibility that the dispute continues well beyond the initial appeal. The comments come amid wider scrutiny of the case, with the UK’s Financial Reporting Council making inquiries arising from the Man City accounting verdict.

For City and the Premier League, the question is therefore not simply what the outcome will be, but how long it could take to reach it.

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