With no public evidence available yet in the legal war between Manchester City and the Premier League, many have been reduced to the classic analysis of judging whether the accused looks guilty.

Have City acted in a way that means they must be guilty? Naturally when there is no evidence to know, it is as wild a guess as most faithfuls trying to catch a traitor.

Bias can come in as well, leading some of the same fans from rival clubs who painted City's lack of spending in summer as a sign that they must be nervous about spending money because they know they are guilty now claim the £180m splash in January is also, erm, because they know they are guilty.

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City have maintained their innocence since the morning of 6th February, 2023 when the charges dropped and Pep Guardiola's reasoning for their behaviour in the last two transfer windows certainly adds up. The club have not learnt their fate but Blues should be encouraged that having had the hearing - where there will have been a sense of how their evidence landed - chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has sanctioned a monster spend in the January window.

In spite of what some suggested or hoped, the threat of potential sanctions has not put off good players from joining. As Porto midfielder Nico Gonzalez said on Monday night after completing his £50m deal: "There isn’t a footballer in the world who would not want to be part of this setup."

The same is true for 25-year-old Omar Marmoush, who has left a Frankfurt team who capable of qualifying for the Champions League as well as one of the favourites to win the Europa League in order to spend the best years of his career at the Etihad. The possibility of that playing out in the National League did not put the Egyptian off.

Then there is Erling Haaland, who shocked the football world by signing a deal this month keeping him at the club until 2034. Asked directly about the charges, he replied: "I haven’t thought of that or anything. I’m confident that the club know what they’re doing."

Some people are in for a nasty shock when the verdict of the Premier League charges arrives in the coming months. That could be at City, but their January business has seen them convince more footballers and shut down a few more conspiracy theories from the usual suspects.