Jamie Carragher has jokingly asked if Liverpool could sign Erling Haaland on a free transfer 'next week', after being given an update on Manchester City players' contracts from barrister Paul Gilroy KC. City were found guilty of 114 of the 115 charges brought against them by the Premier League for financial breaches.
City are maintaining their innocence and are denying the charges against them, and are expected to launch an appeal before the deadline on Friday. As part of the announcement made by the Premier League on Tuesday, the statement listed four reasons why City were found guilty by the independent commission. One of these reasons is the arranging of 'sham' contracts for commercial partners.
Players' contract options explained
Gilroy appeared on the latest episode of Stick to Football, alongside Carragher, Gary Neville, Ian Wright, Roy Keane and Jill Scott. He was asked by Wright how the ongoing case could impact players currently in City's squad, including the likes of Erling Haaland, Enzo Fernandez and Elliot Anderson, amongst others.
Wright asked: "Just talking about the individual players who don't know what's going on [in the boardroom], does he have a case?" Gilroy then responded by explaining: "Definitely, yes, good question, that, on the players' perspective. Every contract of employment, whether it's a footballer or someone who works in a shop, has got an implied term in it. In other words, it's not written down. And the implied term we're talking about here is the term of trust and confidence."
"So if I work for you, you and I must have sufficient trust and confidence in each other to enable that relationship to work. If you don't trust me, or I don't trust you, or if you call me a liar and a thief on Tuesday, I can't work for you on a Wednesday - trust and confidence."
Carragher's light-hearted question
Gilroy continued: "Now, a player could say 'You have breached the implied term of trust and confidence. You are my employer, you have acted in breach of that term, and that entitles me to say I'm ripping up my contract and I'm walking out.' That is a possibility; I've seen commentators saying unlikely, but it depends on so many things. What's the club going to say to the players? How do they sort it out financially? Etc, etc. But arguably, it's certainly a possibility."
Carragher then light-heartedly asked: "So Liverpool could sign Haaland for free next week?" Gilroy responded by saying: "Yeah, why not?" Wright then concluded the discussion by jokingly saying: "He might want to come to Arsenal, just because of his mates there..."
Liverpool will return to Premier League action on October 11 where they will face City at Anfield in their first match after the extended international break.
