Manchester City’s long-running financial case with the Premier League is still yet to be resolved amid their title race battle with Arsenal
There remains an asterisk hanging over Manchester City’s title challenge as their 115 charges remain unresolved, according to eSPORTY pundit Simon Jordan. The former Crystal Palace owner also believes that Pep Guardiola’s squad could be considered to have ‘choked’ if they lose games in final run-in.
City have moved within three points of Arsenal following their 2-1 victory at the Etihad. Erling Haaland scored the winning goal after Kai Havertz had cancelled out Rayan Cherki’s opening effort.
Guardiola’s side can overtake the Gunners on Wednesday evening should they win by more than one goal against Burnley. But Jordan believes one particular advantage that City employ should not be overlooked.
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The 58-year-old took aim at the club’s January transfer business after they were able to sign Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo earlier this year. Jordan was quick to connect this to the uncertainty surrounding the title contenders’ looming verdict.
City and the Premier League to await the final decision over the club’s alleged breaches of Premier League rules. The eight-time Premier League winners faced up to 130 charges relating to alleged breaches of financial regulations between 2009 and 2018 — a period during which City won three league titles.
The hearing concluded in December 2024 following a 12-week tribunal, but no verdict has been forthcoming. City have denied any wrongdoing and said to be confident they will be cleared.
Any success City have had has a cloud over it in Jordan’s mind, as he assessed whether Guardiola’s men could bottle the league given that Arsenal have been top for most of the season.
“If Manchester City go top of the league and then lose two of the remaining five games and Arsenal win all of their games then I would suggest Man City want to look internally as one of the observations that we’ve made is that they have the wherewithal and the squad,” Jordan said.
“So yes, there would be an element of Manchester choked on it. If they get to the top of the league, put it back in their own hands and then don’t win the games and Arsenal win all of their games, there would be a degree of City haven’t done what they should’ve done and ended up bottling.
“I do think it’s absolutely right, and the thing that no one’s brought up, I keep bringing it up. It’s lovely if you’re Manchester City, when you can dip into the transfer market in January and buy the best two players in the division in their positions.
“That is a massive advantage for Man City that they keep on being able to do. When we talk about asterisks, like that ridiculous observation that Pardew made that Arsenal can win the league with an asterisk.
“We’ve still got a bloody, great big asterisk hanging over Man City for the last 10 years, haven’t we?”
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