Understanding the implications of Uefa’s ban on Manchester City

On Friday night, Manchester City were kicked out of the Champions League by the Uefa until 2022.

City are furious, claim they have effectively been found guilty by a kangaroo court and are promising the fight is not over by any stretch of the imagination.

There are a lot of questions that are on the minds of many fans but it's also been one of the boldest decisions that the Uefa have made with regards to Financial Fair Play (FFP).

What have City done?

In effect, concealed a number of payments. These were either made to individuals or to inflate sponsorship deals, which allowed the club to meet financial fair play regulations.

They were brought into the public domain by the Football Leaks organisation, who distributed thousands of confidential emails to the German magazine Der Spiegel.

City alleged they had been the victim of an illegal hack by people who had the express intention of damaging their reputation. They also said the emails were being used as the basis for reports which were being taken out of context. That is still their stance.

Was banning City the right call?

In all intents and purposes this was a massive step in the right direction for Financial Fair Play (FFP).

The idea that clubs spending as much as they want without earning as much was introduced by Fifa to make a more even playing field for all clubs.

Previously, teams could spend as much as they wanted to without making nearly as much if their owners helped.

That meant only the clubs like Real Madrid and Manchester City would have a far greater chance of buying the best players for top dollar and the mid-table clubs would never be able to do so.

But now FFP wants teams to spend what they earn on transfers and that has given the mid-table clubs a bigger chance to compete with the big boys.

If the ban stays, it will send a message to the likes of Paris Saint-Germain that spending willy-nilly without earning as much and breaking FFP rules will lead to serious repercussions.

Especially if the team tried to cheat the rules and con the system, the way City have been accused. 

Is it the end for Pep and a lot of the players?

Pep Guardiola has been at Manchester City since 2016

Does Guardiola feel let down by this outcome? It is impossible to say.

If City win the Champions League this season, Guardiola could go anyway.

Now it is impossible to imagine him staying and, amid persistent rumours of interest from Juventus and the almost certain knowledge any number of alternative challenges will present themselves, Guardiola's City future would seem to hinge on whether the club are successful in their appeal.

We already know veteran midfielder David Silva will be leaving at the end of the season. But the number of players whose contracts are due to expire before City will return to the Champions League is a concern.

Striker Sergio Aguero is at the top of that list. His deal expires in 2021.

Leroy Sane's deal ends at the same time. John Stones' expires a year later. The same is also true of Nicolas Otamendi.

And what of the plethora of stars who are under contract beyond 2022, such as Kevin de Bruyne, Ederson, Bernardo Silva, Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez?

If Guardiola left, it is easy to see a number of players following suit, which could leave City with a massive rebuilding exercise.

What are the financial implications?

Funnily enough, this is the least important aspect. Everyone knows City have rich owners.

Everyone also knows the difficulty Manchester United have had trying to get into the Champions League in recent times. Arsenal have missed out three seasons in a row. Chelsea weren't in it last season. Liverpool failed to qualify as recently as 2015.

Yes, the bottom line is they will miss out on a few million quid but that won't hurt them so much.

Maybe the biggest difficulty will be the loss of the chance to earn coefficient points, which means even when they get back, City will be a lower seed than they would have expected to be and therefore find it harder to reach the latter stages of the competition.

Is the race for the top four now a race for the top five?

It is not entirely clear what will happen if City are excluded but if Uefa decide to retain England's four spots and the team in fifth gets the spare one, a fascinating battle will be in process.

From Sheffield United in fifth to Crystal Palace in 14th, there are just nine points separating 10 teams. From looking to have no chance of getting back into the Champions League, Arsenal will be back in with a shot.