A football finance expert has warned against an “excessive” two-part sanction for Manchester City after the guilty FFP verdict.

Last month, it was confirmed that Man City have been found guilty on 114 of their 115 charges after being accused of breaching the Premier League’s FFP regulations between 2009 and 2018.

Some of Man City’s charges also relate to their failure to comply, but they continue to insist on their innocence and have appealed the initial verdict.

Enzo Maresca‘s side says they have supposed ‘irrefutable evidence’ to clear their name, but they are accused of producing ‘sham’ worth around £900m to speed up their on-field growth and lay the foundations for their period of dominance under ex-manager Pep Guardiola.

And if Man City’s appeal fails, they face several potential punishments, including a huge fine, transfer ban, points deduction, expulsion and/or being stripped of their Premier League titles.

Now, a report from Football Insider claims Man City’s ‘expected’ punishment is a 50-point deduction, which could set up a fight to avoid relegation from the Premier League this season.

Two-part Manchester City punishment considered too “excessive”

It has also been suggested that Man City could be handed several sanctions, but Stefan Borson, a former financial advisor for the club, has explained why it would be too “excessive” if they are given this points deduction and a transfer ban.

Borson has also said that this outcome is currently “pretty unlikely”, even though any outcome is “theoretically possible” at the moment.

“If City were to be relegated, I don’t think you could have a scenario where a penalty is imposed that causes a wholesale of footballers, but they’re not allowed to purchase any,” Borson told Football Insider.

“That would seem to me to be excessive. Because clearly, if you get relegated, you’re going to need to reduce the wage bill.

“If you need to reduce the wage bill, you need to sell players. With a transfer ban, they wouldn’t be able to bring any players in and be forced to use youth players.

“I guess it’s all sort of theoretically possible. I just think it’s pretty unlikely because I think they’ll have to join these two things up.”