Paul Scholes has suggested that Erling Haaland would struggle to score goals in League Two, in the hypothetical scenario that Manchester City are relegated from the Premier League. The club received a guilty verdict on 114 breaches of the Premier League's financial rules on Friday, following a three-year investigation.
Punishment Speculation
As a result, players, pundits, managers and fans have speculated what punishment should be handed to City for the infractions, which are claimed to have taken place over a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018. While fines and transfer embargoes have been floated around, more extreme punishments that the club could face include points deductions, being stripped of their titles and even relegation from the English top flight.
In the latest instalment of the Good, the Bad and the Football, Scholes, Paddy McGuinness, Nicky Butt and Mark Ogden discussed the City saga, as well as the longshot prospect of City playing League Two football next season through demotion.
Haaland's League Two Prospects
McGuinness said: "Hypotheticals, a bit of fun. Let's say City get relegated to League Two. In League Two, because obviously it's a different game down there, how many goals a season does Haaland score?"
While Butt was quick to reply: "None, cause he won't be there," Scholes was happier to entertain McGuinness. He explained: "In all honesty, we'll never know. But it'd be very difficult, it's a different game."
McGuinness then added: "Could he go and get 100 goals? I don't think he would in League Two," with Scholes responding: "He'd get a few at home - at the away grounds I don't think it'd be easy," adding: "He probably wouldn't play a lot of games. He'd probably be injured for quite a few, I would have thought."
When probed how many goals he'd score, Scholes continued: "He'd be alright up until the pitches are good in October, and then he'll be fine again from March to May. It's just that little November to February time it might be a bit difficult."
Appeal and Next Steps
Any respective punishment may have to wait a little while longer, however, as a result of City being all but certain to appeal Friday's verdict from an independent panel. That's given the club have claimed innocence since being slapped with the charges in 2023.
City chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, shared an open letter with fans on Saturday in the wake of the reported verdict, thanking them for sticking by the club while explaining that they will continue to fight their corner. CEO, Ferran Soriano, meanwhile, attended a meeting in Copenhagen with Premier League officials earlier this week.
There it is reported that he told the room: "It has taken eight years to reach this point and it will still take much more time," before dodging media questions in the aftermath. As the Premier League will wait to conclude the case before deciding on respective punishment, it could be a while until football fans learn the definitive outcome of the investigation.
The Premier League are yet to publicly comment since the news emerged on Friday, as a result of privacy and confidentiality laws.
