Pep Guardiola reveals what Man City lawyers say about Everton financial punishment
Pep Guardiola has revealed his lawyers have informed him that the Everton case with the Premier League, and therefore the punishment, is completely separate from the ones levelled at Manchester City.
Everton were handed a ten-point deduction by an independent panel after they were found guilty of a breach of financial rules, leading to speculation over a future punishment for City.
Guardiola’s club are currently under investigation for 115 breaches of financial rules, and the focus has turned to what their punishment will be, and if it will remain consistent with the one given to Everton.
Guardiola was speaking to the media ahead of their Premier League clash with Liverpool, as shared by the Mirror [25 November, pg 66], as he began: “People think, ‘Okay City, why don’t they go to the Conference?’.
“Wait. Wait. When you read that we should be relegated, of course, I’m frustrated because nobody knows exactly, I didn’t read all the breaches or our defence.
“But wait. I said that if there is something wrong, okay, we’ll be punished. After that, I will be here, as a spokesman for my club.
“All I know from the lawyers is that Everton is a completely different case.”
Fans just want consistency
Regardless of the protests and uproar at Everton at the moment as a result of the punishment they were given, with fans feeling it was disproportionate and unfair, there will be plenty of clamour for City to be handed a punishment consistent with this decision.
Of course, it won’t be as simple as taking their 115 charges, multiplying them by ten, and handing City an 1150-point deduction if they are found guilty, but the severity and harshness of whatever punishment they are given should be in equal measure.
Guardiola’s claim that the situations are different is an interesting one as, on paper, they are all breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules, but it may be a hint to the eventual call made over a punishment.
In other Everton news, legal experts have given a new verdict on the decision.