ONE TOUCH SUMMARY
- Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano has told fellow club chiefs the fight with the Premier League could run for years.
- Soriano delivered the message at a meeting of fellow Premier League club executives, Sky News understands.
- Manchester City's dispute with the Premier League remains unresolved, with Soriano framing it as a multi-year process.
ONE TOUCH INSIGHT
Ferran Soriano briefing rival club chiefs on how long City's fight with the Premier League runs is not a legal update, it is a message to the room. The people hearing it are the league's shareholders.
A case that drags is not a problem for City's ownership; it is the strategy. Every season the process runs, transfer windows, contract renewals and rule votes all get conducted without knowing which rules survive the outcome. Rival sporting directors commit nine-figure spending against a rulebook a tribunal can rewrite. Soriano knows that asymmetry is worth more than any single hearing, and he knows the clubs across the table from him are the ones carrying the uncertainty.
The league's calendar is where this bites. Any change to its financial rules runs through a vote of those same clubs being told to settle in.
So the moment to mark is the next shareholder vote on financial rules. Whether clubs keep passing regulations City can challenge, or park them until the case clears, tells you which side believes the clock is on its side.
WHY IT MATTERS
A multi-year timeline signals the dispute will outlast seasons, transfers and title races, keeping uncertainty attached to the champions' operations and to the Premier League's own governance.
TACTICAL FIT
Strategically, Soriano is buying time: an extended legal horizon lets City plan recruitment and contracts around uncertainty, while rivals must factor the same unresolved case into their own boardroom decisions.
THE DEBATE
Should City's unresolved Premier League fight overshadow everything they win?
Reports on Friday claimed an independent tribunal has reached decisions in Manchester City's 115 charges case – and that virtually all were found to have been proven; Man City deny all wrongdoing
Rob Harris Sports correspondent, Sky News
Monday 28 September 2026 20:52, UK
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Man City chief refuses to answer questions on 115 charges
Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano declined to answer questions from Sky News as he left a meeting of the executive board of the European Football Clubs' body in Copenhagen.
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Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano declined to answer questions from Sky News as he left a private meeting of the executive board of the European Football Clubs' body in Copenhagen.
Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano has told a meeting of fellow club chiefs their fight against the Premier League could take years to conclude, Sky News understands.
Soriano declined to answer questions from Sky News about the case as he left a private meeting of the executive board of the European Football Clubs' body in Copenhagen.
But inside the room, sources have told Sky News that Soriano brought up the case against City, referencing the interest of other clubs - without directly mentioning the verdict of guilt over financial wrongdoing for years.
- Man City charges: The key questions answered * Why Man City Premier League charges case could still drag on for years * Man City chairman responds to reports around charges case * What happens now in the City charges case? * Man City charges Q&A: How did we get here, what could punishment be?
Soriano is understood to have referenced how it has been eight years since the allegations of misconduct were first made and how it will take a lot more time for a conclusion.
Sources say he expressed a determination to fight the case - with City able to appeal while there is a separate process that will determine sanctions.
Sky Sports News understands that the process is moving to the appeal stage, after reports claimed that most of the charges against the club for breaking Financial Fair Play rules were found to have been proven.
The Premier League and City have not denied that the club has been found guilty of the majority of charges which were first brought against them in 2023.
City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubaraksaid in a statement on Saturday: "The Premier League process still has a long way to run, and our confidence and intent in proving the club's innocence is just as strong as when this began."
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Man City latest: Why Premier League hasn't commented and implications of 'leak'
Sky Sports News' Kaveh Solhekol explains why the Premier League has not commented on reports a decision has been reached in the 115 charges case. City insist they have irrefutable evidence to prove they did not break the rules.
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Sky Sports News' Kaveh Solhekol explains why the Premier League has not commented on reports a decision has been reached in the 115 charges case. City insist they have irrefutable evidence to prove they did not break the rules.
City's statement after latest reports
A City spokesperson said on Friday: "The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements to be completed, and subject to strict confidentiality.
"As such Manchester City FC's position remains consistent with the club's statement of February 2023.
"The club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League board and executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence."
City's initial response to Premier League charges
City were charged in February 2023.
At the time, they responded with a statement, which read: "Manchester City FC is surprised by the issuing of these alleged breaches of the Premier League Rules, particularly given the extensive engagement and vast amount of detailed materials that the EPL has been provided with.
"The club welcomes the review of this matter by an independent Commission, to impartially consider the comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence that exists in support of its position.
"As such we look forward to this matter being put to rest once and for all."
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