Ex-Man City player wants club punished for seven years over financial issues

A former Manchester City defender, Danny Mills, has called for the club to face a strong punishment of seven seasons for their alleged financial rule-breaking in the Premier League.

Mills shared his thoughts with GB News in a report on Saturday. He argued that a punishment for just one season would not be enough. He feels the penalties should match the time covered by the most serious charges against the club.

Manchester City is facing over 100 allegations of breaking Premier League rules. The club has appealed against this decision.

Mills explained why relegating City to the Championship might not be fair to other clubs in that league. He believes City would still keep a team strong enough to dominate.

“I think that makes it unfair on teams in the EFL, I would say, because City will still have the strongest squad by some distance,” he said.

He pointed out that City’s first-team players, reserves, under-21s, and loaned-out players would give them a big edge over teams in the Championship.

“If a few players left, they’d blitz the Championship. So you’re taking away a promotion spot from someone in the Championship. Is that fair? Not really, I would say,” Mills said.

Mills also raised concerns about the money Championship clubs would make from hosting City. He said a single match would not bring in a lot of extra revenue.

“It’s not like you’re going to make massive revenue off Manchester City. The TV deal is not going to suddenly change because Man City are in the Championship for a season,” he said.

He believes the punishment should be tough and cover the time when the alleged financial breaches happened.

“So I think the punishment has to be fair, harsh, and I would say probably over the course of seven seasons,” he said.

Mills added, “I know there’s 114 charges, but I think the seven most serious charges are for that seven-season period where they’ve been found guilty of financial doping, effectively.”

He insisted that a one-season punishment would not show how serious the situation is.

“So, if it were me, I think a very harsh punishment for a seven-year period would be fair because one season does nothing. It becomes irrelevant,” he said.