City could be hit again and again! Premier League rivals push for multi-window transfer ban
Manchester City's legal battle could end with punishments designed to hurt far beyond a single season.
Details: According to BBC Sport, a number of Premier League clubs want Manchester City to face both retrospective punishment and sanctions affecting the club in future if their appeal against the financial-rule verdict is unsuccessful.
There is concern among some club executives that a punishment concentrated into a single campaign would merely represent a temporary setback. A number of Premier League figures therefore believe any points deduction should be divided across multiple seasons rather than imposed all at once.
The same report states that there is also support for a transfer ban covering several windows. Such a restriction would significantly reduce City's ability to strengthen their squad and, in the event of relegation, make an immediate return to the Premier League more difficult.
One club source also questioned whether Manchester City should be allowed to operate normally in the upcoming January transfer window while the legal process remains unresolved. However, the views of Premier League clubs are not completely uniform: one senior source has called for titles to be stripped, while BBC Sport previously reported limited appetite among other clubs for that measure.
Manchester City have appealed the independent commission's guilty verdict, meaning no final sporting sanction has yet been imposed. It is worth noting that City's next Premier League fixture is away to Liverpool on October 11.
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Steven Perez
Dailysports's expert
