Graeme Souness has predicted that Manchester City will be “consigned to history as cheats” should the Premier League’s ongoing case against the club go “the wrong way for them”.
The Scot pointed to the possibility of the Premier League giants having their titles retrospectively stripped, with Liverpool being one of many potential beneficiaries in that event.
Things certainly seem to be tracking in that unpleasant direction, with the Sky Blues having been informed by the English top flight that they’re accountable for 114 of 115 charges presented, pending the outcome of an appeal.
Graeme Souness: Man City could be branded “cheats”
Manchester City’s legacy will most certainly be up for question even if the Sky Blues somehow manage to wrangle their way out of half the charges on the table.
“The legacy is gone. If it goes the wrong way for them, they’ll be consigned to history as cheats, and whatever they did, whatever they won in that period, should not count,” the Liverpool legend told We Are Track Radio (via X).
“There’s an argument for Liverpool to have a couple of Premier Leagues given to them. For City to be stripped of whatever they’ve won in that period of time… money’s not an issue for them, so whatever fine they get is just a scratch on the surface.”
Although one might reasonably suspect, given just how lengthy a process this has been, that the Premier League absolutely has City dead to rights in their legal case.
❌ “Their legacy has gone”
🔴 “Liverpool have a claim for a couple more Premier League titles”🔊 Graeme Souness spoke exclusively to @CrosbyNicky about the Man City verdict pic.twitter.com/CerHxsYvHT
— Track Radio (@wearetrackradio) September 28, 2026
Which raises far more questions than it answers beyond the scope of the potential punishment that could be handed to the English outfit.
Souness raised the potential issue that will arise around City’s titles – should they be handed over to competing clubs? What about the ramifications of this pattern of cheating on the entire footballing pyramid in Britain?
Clubs that were denied money that could have completely changed their fortunes at the top (think of Leicester City, former Premier League champions, now toiling in League One). Clubs like Aston Villa, who had their top assets stripped by a state-funded behemoth, as Gabriel Agbonlahor was recently at pains to point out. Former players who were denied larger paychecks, as well as glory, by virtue of missing out on top honours.
Where does the line start and end?
What will Liverpool vs Manchester City look like?
One might reasonably expect that this season is going to be a long, uncomfortable journey for City fans, with the Premier League’s findings out in the open.
And what a fitting first opponent for Enzo Maresca’s men to come up against after the international break! Who better than the one club Manchester City have arguably stolen the most from, diluting the legacy of a golden generation under Jurgen Klopp? A legacy defined by the fact that the Reds were the only side capable of reaching the Sky Blues’ ungodly heights and halting a perfect run from Pep Guardiola’s men between the 2017/18 and 2023/24 campaigns.
Klopp and Co. deserved so much more than to be used as the yardstick against which to measure the greatness of City’s former accomplishments.
Cheaters may never prosper, but it seems there’ll be no winners out of this grand mess either, regardless of who gets what or how much from the potential dismantling of Manchester City.
A hollow victory scavenged from the bones of a hollow club.
Live Comments
Welcome to our Live Comments section, where new comments will appear automatically
Add a Comment