Manchester City’s January transfer business has led Jamie Carragher to question whether it is a pre-emptive response to a potential transfer ban.
Newcastle United and their Premier League rivals have been left in suspense over the outcome of City‘s hearing into 115 alleged breaches of Premier League financial rules, with Pep Guardiola anticipating a decision ‘in a month.’ The hearing, which took place before an independent panel from September to December, saw the club vehemently deny all charges.
Speculation is rife about the possible repercussions for City if found guilty, with suggestions ranging from relegation and fines to points deductions and even the stripping of titles. However, it remains to be seen what the actual outcome will be.
During The Overlap Fan Debate, a Liverpool supporter questioned why bookmakers had odds of 16/1 for Guardiola‘s side to face relegation, wondering if there was a hidden message in those odds.
However, Luke Stanley of @mcfc_lads made an interesting point: “I’ve seen that and it’s because everyone wants to bet on it don’t they? Everyone here, besides me probably wants City to get relegated. If it was an option – betting odds aren’t necessarily what are the chances of it happening, it’s about who’s putting money on it.
“If 10,000 people put money on City to go down and it’s 3000/1 and it happens, you’re going to have another Leicester situation. So, I’ve seen that.
“I think the majority of us are pretty confident. We’ve come into these charges – it’s two years since these have come up and since the owners have come in, in 2008, it’s been nothing but good. Even around the ground, you look at the developments, every facility is best in class.
“Since the owners have come in they’ve not put a foot wrong. The only question mark is the Super League and why we joined that, but I think that was 50-50 and if you look at their choice to join that, their hand was forced a little bit and every English club came out of that thankfully.
“I think everyone has a bit of confidence. You look at the transfer window we’ve just had. We’ve just spent £200million, as I said a few weeks ago, we didn’t spend in the summer window at all but we’ve spent that now, is that not confidence from the board?”
(Image: PA)
Carragher responded: “Is that a sign that you [Man City] think you won’t be able to sign players in the summer?”
The City fan responded: “That’s one take. Is there going to be a transfer ban? Are we getting the numbers in now? One, we need them for the rest of the season to get in the Champions League if we want to win anything and two, I think it is a sign of confidence.
“You wouldn’t go shelling out £200m if you were going to get relegated. I am pretty confident if the board is saying they’ve got irrefutable evidence. Every Man City fan [is confident].”
“How?” Carragher interjected, “Just by reading those emails?”
Stanley added: “The thing is though, I’m confident because if somebody had consistently never let you down, would you expect the best in them or the worst in them? The board have never let us down. I don’t have a reason to not be confident, so I’m confident. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong.”
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