Manchester City cannot be relegated from the Premier League if they are found guilty of the most serious of their 115 alleged breaches of financial rules, a finance expert has said.

However, if City are found guilty, the Premier League could impose a points deduction that would make relegation inevitable, Kieran Maguire says.

City have presented their defence to an independent tribunal, in which the Premier League also laid their case and the evidence is currently being assessed. A verdict is expected at some point this year, with both sides having an option to appeal.

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Speaking to the Overlap Fan Debate, Maguire said the Premier League are unlikely to be able to expel City from the league and relegate them to the Championship because the English Football League have no obligation to accept them. However, a huge points deduction would have the same impact, especially if recent deductions for Everton and Nottingham Forest are benchmarks.

Maguire said: "In the case of City, there's actually three charges. It's not 115. Has money come in from the owners which they pretend to be from the sponsors? If that is the case, then that is fraud. That is about as serious as it gets.

"And, if found guilty of those charges, then the book will be thrown at Manchester City and it's going to be a massive points deduction.

"You can't relegate [expel] them because the Premier League and the EFL are independent bodies, so the EFL doesn't have to accept them. Given the Everton and the Nottingham Forest points deductions, they were both described by the commission of being 'minor breaches'. Well, what Manchester City are being accused of is major breaches over a nine to ten year period. So, you would be looking at somewhere between 60 and 100 points if you go through on a charge by charge basis. So, it would relegate them."

And Maguire also raised doubts over how successful an appeal would be, suggesting any decision is unlikely to be overturned.

He said: "I think there are very narrow grounds for appeal. It's only if the conduct of the committee itself was unprofessional in some way that one of the parties can potentially make an appeal.

"If Manchester City are found guilty then the whole board of directors has to resign because they will have been found guilty of misrepresentation, effectively lying to a commission."