Manchester City could face additional charges on top of their 114 counts of breaching FFP regulations, with the Premier League now facing a major ‘dilemma’ over calls for a probe into their finances beyond 2018, according to a respected journalist.

The eight-time Premier League champions have been caught up in the competition’s biggest ever storm since its inception after being found guilty of all but one of the 115 charges brought against them, and after it was concluded they had created several ‘sham’ commercial agreements that swelled their finances over a nine-year period by some £830m.

While it is important to stress that City continue to protest their innocence and have already launched an appeal against that guilty verdict, a top sports lawyer has exclusively told TEAMtalk that the club could take their battle to clear their name all the way to the High Court.

And while that appeal continues behind the scenes, elsewhere a separate Premier League commission is deciding on the best course of action with regards the most suitable punishment.

Stripping the club of their titles won across that period, demotion out of the Premier League and potentially down the EFL, as well as a multi-year points deduction and transfer suspension are among the sanctions up for debate.

Their exit from the top flight would likely result in the departure of several key names, with Erling Haaland among those seen as the most likely to depart.

However, according to The Independent’s Miguel Delaney, there is some clamour for City to ‘face new charges’, with ‘some executives pushing for City to be investigated for the seasons since 2018 after they were found guilty of 114 charges of breaches of financial rules’.

It is said that an ‘increasing’ number of these individuals have raised the ‘obvious question’ about whether Man City’s inflated sponsorship deals ‘just stopped in 2018, despite commercial income being accounted as staying at the same level’.

The report claims questions have been asked about ‘what changed overnight’ with City’s finances post-2018 (when the initial investigation period ceased), posing the Premier League an enormous dilemma that the gravity of the alleged cheating could be more widespread than initially feared…

Could Man City face a further FFP probe beyond 2018?

Delaney’s report goes into more detail, explaining how ‘the prospect of further investigation is also seen as representing a potential dilemma for the competition and its clubs’.

It adds: ‘Some feel agitating executives are getting ahead of themselves, and that there should just be patience for the current case to conclude.

‘A concurrent view is that there aren’t the same clear grounds for another investigation without evidence like the leaked emails, and that it might even be unnecessary if the guilty verdict is upheld and the sanctions are appropriate, given what the final verdict already says. The latter is taken to mean meaningful sporting sanctions and focus on the hierarchy responsible.’

Whether the Premier League decides to pursue further charges looks some way off, however, with the League still wrapped up in the current guilty verdict, City’s subsequent appeal and the best and most appropriate form of punishment to administer.

Just what that punishment should be depends entirely on opinion right now, and until the competition reaches an official verdict, that will remain open to debate and conjecture.

Speaking last month, Jamie Carragher called on the authorities to administer a punishment that not only befits their heinous financial misdeeds, but one that impacts the club for several years to come.

“Now that we know that they’re guilty, yes, there’s an appeal, but now that they’ve got a big guilty verdict initially, now I don’t think anybody wants to wait,” Carragher said.

“It has to be done this season, because Man City need to be affected for next season.

“I know the word at the moment is sham; it’ll almost make the Premier League of this season, the title to be won would be a sham, if Man City went on to win that league with what we know has gone on.

“So it has to be done this season, and I think the punishment, whatever it should be, I don’t think it can be a one-off punishment for one season, because this has gone on for years and years, so I think the punishment should go on for years and years.”

Carragher, meanwhile, has also asked a top sports lawyer if his beloved Liverpool could have a chance at signing Haaland as a result of City’s financial misdeeds  – and the results may shock you.

Former City keeper Peter Schmeichel, meanwhile, wants a 125-point deduction enforced over a four-point punishment plan.