Manchester City are confident of avoiding detrimental punishment over their 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League's financial regulations, the club's former advisor Stefan Borson feels. Liverpool's rivals are months away from a verdict from their groundbreaking trial, yet plough ahead with business as normal.

The Reds watched on as their adversaries took up a legal battle with English top-flight officials between September and December 2024, strongly in denial of each and every single charge of wrongdoing levied against them throughout. Man City are in wait to discover the outcome, as a guilty verdict could see severe punishment delivered, namely relegation, a significant points deduction, hefty fines, or the stripping of titles.

Despite such uncertainty lingering, Etihad Stadium chiefs seem unfazed. On Friday they announced the biggest-ever contract in Premier League history awarded to striker Erling Haaland.

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Scorer of 111 goals in his 126 appearances for the club, the 24-year-old is now tied to the club for the next nine-and-a-half years. Added to this, Pep Guardiola is expected to wrap up a number of new signings this winter, including Eintracht Frankfurt striker Omar Marmoush for £67.6m, RC Lens defender Abdukodir Khusanov for £33.6m and Palmeiras defender Vitor Reis for £29.4m, all according to various reports.

"It’s all a sign of confidence," Borson tells The i Paper. "All of the spending and recent commitments are meaningful in my view. Anyone who tries to argue this is all some kind of elaborate sleight of hand isn’t credible."

From expertise he added: "Any sensible business faced with this kind of scenario, with all that risk and uncertainty, would pause if they had a lack of confidence in the outcome of the case.

"You’d go: ‘We don’t know where this is going, this season has been a bit of a disaster, let’s be cautious and have a look at it again in the summer with more clarity.’

"So, unless you were supremely confident, you’d be cautious. And City are clearly investing aggressively. It’s consistent with the confidence they’ve articulated all the way along."