Man City financial investigation - LIVE: Premier League charge club and potential points deduction latest

The Premier League has charged Manchester City with breaking its financial rules.

A long-running investigation into the club’s finances found alleged breaches of the rules between 2009 and 2018, and the report accused City of not co-operating with the investigation from December 2018.

The Premier League has referred the club to an independent commission over the investigation.

In a statement released on this morning the Premier League said City breached rules requiring them to provide “accurate financial information that gives a true and fair view of the club’s financial position”.

This information included the club’s revenue, including sponsorship revenue and operating costs.

Pep Guardiola insisted there was a long way to go in the Premier League title race but conceded Manchester City had missed an opportunity following their 1-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.

Harry Kane’s record-breaking goal in the 15th minute earned Spurs a third win from their last four matches against the Premier League champions, who could have closed the gap on leaders Arsenal to two points.

It proved to be Kane’s day with his scuffed first-half finish moving him beyond Jimmy Greaves’ tally and putting him alone as Tottenham’s all-time leading scorer with 267 goals to make both sides of north London happy.

One of the two most creative passers on Manchester City’s books was in the starting 11. He had an assist after 14 minutes. Not for City, admittedly. Joao Cancelo was in the Bayern Munich team. The beneficiary of his supply line was not Erling Haaland but Kingsley Coman. He was facing Wolfsburg and a former Wolfsburg playmaker, Kevin De Bruyne, became the latest public target of Pep Guardiola’s displeasure. There was no pretence of a minor injury. His demotion was tactical. “Definitely,” said Guardiola. was

There are different forms of exile, to the Bundesliga and the bench. One will last for five months. The other spanned 58 minutes. It offered scant evidence City are better off without the player with the most assists in the Premier League this season and the fifth most in its history. It did demonstrate the restlessness of Guardiola, the fractiousness with some of his players that has extended beyond Cancelo’s dramatic fall from grace. But without the creators, City weren’t creative enough.

Jamie Carragher has suggested that Erling Haaland “might have joined the wrong club” and insisted that Manchester City are yet to get the best out of their Norwegian striker.

Haaland already has 25 Premier League goals after a summer arrival in Manchester, but struggled to make an impact during Sunday’s defeat to Tottenham.

The 22-year-old failed to register a single shot or touch in the Spurs box as Pep Guardiola’s side missed an opportunity to close the gap to league leaders Arsenal.

While Haaland remains on track to complete the most prolific individual scoring season in Premier League history, former Liverpool defender Carragher does not think that Guardiola has yet worked out how to fully utilise the forward’s considerable threat.

This young stadium enjoyed a special moment, as Pep Guardiola endured yet another bad evening here. The Manchester City manager could only watch as his side failed to do what Harry Kane has now made historic virtue out of. The Tottenham Hotspur legend has become their leading goalscorer, going one better than the great Jimmy Greaves with his 267th goal for the club. It proved the only goal of an invigorating 1-0 win over the champions, as they still haven’t scored at the Spurs Stadium since it was built in 2019.

That was this time without the recovering Antonio Conte present in the ground, as Guardiola’s problems only mounted. His side failed to take the chance to go within two points of Arsenal after the leaders’ loss at Everton on Saturday and that, most aggravatingly for the City manager, after his side barely mustered a chance at all.

Spurs will put that benefit to their great rivals out of their mind, just as they did for all of this game. The evening is of course about Kane, to dominate all headlines, but that only after a display of ultra-focus from Spurs. You could say that is because they now know this tactical approach against City so well but that is precisely what was missing in the 4-2 defeat in Manchester - as well as so many other games over the last few weeks.

Stephen Taylor Heath, JMW head of sports law, told Sky Sports: “The commission will have a legal representative on the panel, and you’d expect that representative to be a pretty heavyweight King’s Counsel.

“Manchester City have had an obligation to comply with the Premier League’s investigation and they now have an obligation to comply with the commission’s procedure. If they don’t comply then a dim view will be taken.

“If the charges relate to administrative errors then the sanctions will be a slap on the wrist. You would think, if the Premier League have taken it this far, they either think there is a case to answer or they’ve simply got to the point where they haven’t been given the answers, and they’re now putting it to a commission to get those answers.”

The publication of a Government White Paper expected to support the creation of an independent regulator for football has been pushed back.

This is not supposed to be linked with any of the news concerning Manchester City today but rather due to the volume of other business needed to get through by the government.

As Pep Guardiola sat down to his post-game press conference, there were a few comments that could have been construed as swipes. He referred to Tottenham defending with nine men, and said he wouldn’t again describe them as “the Harry Kane team” as he didn’t want to upset Mauricio Pochettino. In truth, though, none of this was delivered with enough energy to feel any way deliberate as barbs. There wasn’t much energy at all, which was pretty much like his Manchester City team in their 1-0 defeat to Spurs.

The difference with his press conference after his previous match against the same opposition, just a few weeks ago, couldn’t have been more pronounced. It was then that Guardiola went on an impassioned monologue, referring to “happy flowers”. While his meaning was often difficult to decipher, the intention wasn’t.

Guardiola wanted a response out of his team. He wanted hunger. On the evidence of this, and even his response, he hasn’t got it.

Manchester City’s potential financial rule breaking is now being reviewed by an independent commission. The commission will the decide which punishment, if any, City will face.

There are a number of penalties with points deductions and heavy fines the most likely. Here’s what could happen to Man City if they’re guilty of breaking financial rules:

- Suspend a club from playing league matches

- Points deductions

- Recommend to the board that league matches be replayed

- Recommend to the board that the league expels the respondent club

- Order compensation

- Cancel or refuse registration of players

- Conditional punishment

- Order the club to pay costs

- Make such other order as it thinks fit

Manchester City insist they are “surprised” at being charged by the Premier League with more than 100 alleged breaches of financial regulations.

The reigning champions could potentially be hit with a points deduction or even expulsion from the league if found guilty following a four-year investigation.

The unprecedented series of allegations from Premier League concerns a nine-year period from 2009 to 2018, with the club insisting there is “irrefutable evidence” to prove their innocence.