Man City have been told to surrender their league titles to another Premier League club

Graeme Souness believes Liverpool should be part of any discussion about redistributing trophies if Manchester City ultimately lose titles as punishment for their financial-rule breaches.

Liverpool finished one place behind City in three extremely tight Premier League races, 2013/14, 2018/19 and 2021/22, losing those championships by a combined four points.

However, no decision has been made to remove trophies or retrospectively award championships to runners-up.

The debate has intensified after the Premier League officially confirmed that an independent commission found City guilty of serious financial breaches covering 2009/10 to 2017/18, as well as three of four charges concerning failure to cooperate with the investigation.

City deny wrongdoing and intend to appeal.

Souness says Man City should give up titles

Speaking on Track Radio, Souness argued that financial punishment alone would not adequately address what has happened.

“The legacy is gone. If it goes the wrong way for them, they’ll be consigned to history as cheats, and whatever they did, whatever they won in that period, should not count.

“There’s an argument for Liverpool to have a couple of Premier Leagues given to them. For them [City] to be stripped of whatever they’ve won in that period of time.

“For them, money’s not an issue, so whatever fine is just like a scratch on the surface. Relegation [as an option]… I don’t know, but I come back to it, I think this is going to open a can of worms, which I think may go well beyond the realms of football.”

The important detail is that the commission’s confirmed serious breaches relate specifically to 2009/10 through 2017/18. City’s 2013/14 title falls inside that period, whereas their 2018/19 and 2021/22 championships came later.

Stripping titles would create another difficult question

Souness raises the issue Liverpool supporters will naturally ask, but taking trophies away and awarding them elsewhere are two separate decisions.

The Premier League has not announced City’s punishment, and Reuters reports that possible sanctions could include fines, points deductions or relegation. City are also expected to appeal, potentially extending the process considerably.

Even if titles were removed, there is no automatic guarantee Liverpool would be declared champions retrospectively.

That makes Souness’ comments significant as part of the wider debate rather than an indication of what the Premier League will actually do. The sanction hearing and City’s appeal, will ultimately determine whether past trophies become part of the punishment at all.