“Taking the p**s” – Former Manchester City striker questions club on 115 charges and silverware legitimacy | OneFootball

One former Manchester City striker has sensationally hit out at the legitimacy of the club’s silverware success over recent seasons, in light of their Premier League charges.

The Premier League first issued their charges to Manchester City in February 2023, with the reigning Champions struck by more than 100 breaches of the division’s financial rules following a four-year investigation.

The English top-flight referred City to an independent commission over alleged rule breaches between 2009 and 2018, whilst also having accused the club of not co-operating since the investigation started in December 2018.

In direct response, and in a stance that the club strongly stand by, Manchester City said at the time that they were both “surprised” by the charges, as well as supported by a “body of irrefutable evidence”.

With the hearing into Manchester City’s 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League’s regulations and financial rules now widely understood to have been set for November and expected to last six weeks, one former player has hit out.

Speaking during a new interview this week with BoyleSports, who offer the latest Royal Ascot odds, former City striker Mick Channon has questioned the club’s silverware legitimacy and whether all of their league crowns could be stripped away from them in the coming years.

“They’ve changed a lot haven’t they?! The whole world,” Channon admitted. “This whole issue with legal challenges, they (Manchester City) are kicking the law down the road and taking the p**s. Never mind what happened to Everton or Nottingham Forest.”

Channon continued, “What City have been up to… In 10 years time, I wonder if they will take all those championships away from them if they have broken every rule in the game.

“How can City get away with it yet Everton and Nottingham Forest are penalised with a points deduction? Suing the Premier League? What’s all that about?”

Such comments are also in light of the emergence of a fresh legal challenge from Manchester City into the Premier League’s Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules, which the club argue that they are victims of “discrimination”, describing rules as a “tyranny of the majority”.

However, it is already understood that at least three clubs, including Chelsea, Aston Villa, and Newcastle United, have sympathy for Manchester City’s position after they declared war on the Premier League over spending rules.