Man City 115 charges verdict: Financial rules 'should be suspended'
The profit and sustainability rules (PSR) should have been suspended until the verdict in the case for Manchester City's alleged 115 charges is announced.
That is the opinion of experienced former Aston Villa, Everton and Tottenham scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
The Premier League continues to wait for the outcome of the charges they brought against the Citizens more than three years ago, for which the hearing ended more than 18 months ago.
The likes of Aston Villa and Newcastle United have continued to be hamstrung by the restrictions in the time since, while Man City have continued to spend at will.
The charges relate to multiple alleged breaches of Premier League PSR and Uefa's financial fair play (FFP) rules between 2013 and 2018, and the failure to provide accurate financial information.
The verdict, and punishment if applicable, when it does eventually get handed down, is expected to be a leading guide for similar breaches going forward.
PSR slammed amid Man City charges
For many, PSR is seen as a tool to prevent the teams below the big six, Arsenal, Manchester United, Man City, Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea, from bridging the gap.
Clubs are required to achieve some level of self-sufficiency, and simply spending hundreds of millions of pounds, as Man City's owners did, to close the gap is no longer possible.
Villa and Newcastle are the prime examples, with both clubs owned by extremely wealthy owners but forced into selling their best assets to improve their squads.
"That rule should have been suspended until the Manchester City business was done and dusted because that's going on and on still," King told Football Insider.
"There's 115 charges here regarding money and payments and stuff. It's coming on for two years now. The whole thing with PSR should have been suspended. And teams would have certainly curtailed their budgets and certainly spent more wisely, knowing that they could still come under scrutiny."
"I think the whole thing's a bloody farce anyway," he added. "Especially when you've got a certain football club who've got 115 charges against them, and they still haven't been resolved. So, you know, this thing about spending and PSR and all this is now senseless for me."
Newcastle summer tells all
Newcastle's failure to qualify for any form of European football has left them in a difficult position in PSR terms.
The Magpies have had to sell Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali already, and club captain Bruno Guimaraes may join Arsenal in the coming weeks.
Eddie Howe's team have been gutted, and the progress made in previous years undoubtedly set back.
Sooner or later, their owners may well decide that the PSR are simply not worth sticking around for.