New Man City 115 charges verdict timeline revealed as Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham wait

Premier League clubs will have to brace themselves for yet more months of delays and uncertainty over Manchester City's remaining legal battle. It has emerged that the wait could extend to beyond the end of this current season.

According to The Times, a final conclusion and outcome may not be decided even by the time all 38 Premier League games in 2024/25 have been played in May. That is because the hearing itself, which relates to the high-profile 115 financial breaches City are alleged to have made, is not expected to be finished until the middle of December.

Following that, the written reasons will have to be poured over and communicated directly before anything becomes public. Then, finally, an appeal is likely to come now matter which way an independent panel rules.

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This all means that there are still months of proceedings left before any potential punishment could be enforced, should City be found guilty of the charges - something they strongly deny. This scenario would then have implications for all current Premier League clubs.

What is certain, however, is that the hearing in London is coming to a close. It is said that the closing arguments are now being prepared, with meetings paused to allow time for this.

There is no definite timeline for how long cases such as this take but examples of 13-weeks hearings with a judgement and appeal have gone on for over a year. Things have been made even more complex by the fact that the league had to issue a statement of correction after City were really charged with 130 counts of financial misdeeds over more than a decade.

The Premier League has already had a five-year investigation into the accounts, making their unprecedented call to take City to court open in January 2023. Sanctions for City could include relegation, huge fines or points deductions, and the retrospective stripping of titles.

The leading barristers for both sides both come from Blackstone Chambers. The Premier League are being represented by Adam Lewis KC - who also fought against Everton over profitability and sustainability rules 12 months ago - with Lord Pannick on the case for City.

Last week it was announced that Premier League clubs had approved of Premier League financial rule changes after a legal fight with City over associated party transaction (APT) regulations. City were hopeful that laws would be deemed unfair but, despite claiming an initial victory in the case, have been left disappointed by the end result.