Erling Haaland and his Manchester City team-mates will not be required to take a pay cut should the club be booted out of the Premier League. Football fans and pundits worldwide are speculating what punishment the English top flight will hand them, as a result of being found guilty of breaching financial rules between 2009 and 2018.
Potential sanctions and player contracts
While City have appealed the findings, which were reported to officials by an independent panel, the club could face severe penalties should they fail in successfully challenging the initial verdict. Sanctions could come in the form of fines and transfer embargoes, although extreme cases could see the club slapped with massive points deductions or expulsion from the league altogether.
If the latter comes to fruition, then a number of Manchester City first-team players will continue to see their current salaries still paid in the Championship or lower leagues, according to the BBC. Given City's status as a giant of world football, however, it could quickly become unsustainable to continue to pay one of the highest wage bills in the beautiful game without a Premier League income.
Contract renegotiation and escape clauses
That could see the club faced with the prospect of renegotiating contracts with its current crop of players, or moving some of them on altogether. It's also understood that City players, including Haaland and recent arrivals Enzo Fernandez and Elliot Anderson, don't have any relegation-escape clauses in their contracts.
Of course, this is all a hypothetical scenario at present, as the Premier League will not decide upon their punishment for City until its case is fully concluded. Given that City have appealed their verdict and continue to maintain their innocence, the Premier League now has 12 weeks to appoint a new three-person independent panel to oversee the process and hold a new hearing.
Timeline and appeal statement
After that hearing has concluded, the panel will have 30 days to give a final verdict. With all of that in mind, the Premier League should have reached their decision no later than January 23, 2027. However, under a new rule in the English top flight's rulebook, the set timeframe can be waived if more time is required to carefully review the case.
That would, however, leave football fans worldwide with another lengthy wait to truly learn City's fate. A statement confirming the club's appeal on Friday read: "Manchester City Football Club can confirm that at 7pm on Thursday 1st October 2026 the Club lodged its comprehensive Appeal against the opinion of the Premier League Commission, in relation to the Premier League disciplinary matter."
"The Club’s firm position is that, on multiple grounds, the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact and is unsafe. The Club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case. We will continue to respect due process and are necessarily restricted in what we can say further until all proceedings are complete."
