LONDON: Manchester City should be expelled from the Premier League (EPL) after being found guilty of breaching financial regulations, the club’s former chairman, David Bernstein, has said.

City were found to have arranged ‘fake’ contracts with several commercial partners to ‘increase the club’s income and reduce costs over a period of nine seasons between 2009 and 2018.

The scheme concealed their true financial position and allowed City to avoid breaching spending limits set by the EPL and UEFA.

The independent commission also found the club guilty of the majority of charges relating to their failure to cooperate with the league’s investigation.

However, no punishment has been imposed so far and City, which has the support of Abu Dhabi, said they would appeal the decision.

But Bernstein, who was City’s chairman from 1998 to 2003, believes the Etihad Stadium-based club deserves the harshest punishment.

“It was completely unexpected. The first thing I thought was, should the board of directors continue to work? Should the individuals involved be suspended immediately?

“It’s very serious. I think it’s really bad. There’s a view among lawyers that the approach is to deny, deny and keep denying, but this is a football club that is part of the league and the whole credibility of the league is now at stake.

“The punishment cannot be just financial, so it has to be much more severe than that. If the appeal fails, Manchester City cannot stay in the league, they must accept the consequences. And I say that as a supporter and a fan,” Bernstein told the BBC.

LONDON: Manchester City have spent a whopping 1.2 billion pounds sterling on new players over nine seasons as the club faces allegations of financial irregularities.

According to The Athletic, City were found guilty of all but one of the 115 charges of breaching the rules, but the panel has yet to decide on an appropriate and proportionate punishment.

Some of the players who joined the club later became legends, while others emigrated.

Tevez, who spent the previous two seasons on loan with rivals Manchester United, made 42 appearances in his first season.

He scored 29 goals and created seven assists, helping City finish fifth, up from 10th the previous season, and earning a place in the Europa League.

Toure scored the winning goal against United in the 2011 FA Cup semi-final before repeating it against Stoke at Wembley to give the club their first major trophy in 35 years.

The pair won three Premier League titles, three Carabao Cups, one FA Cup and one Community Shield.

Then in 2011, came the name that changed everything: Sergio Aguero.

Upon arrival, he said: “We are a team that in the future will fight every year to win major trophies.”

Aguero lived up to his word when he became City’s all-time top scorer, but regardless of all his achievements since then, the Argentine star will still be remembered for the 93rd-minute goal that secured the 2011/12 title.

However, not every transfer window sees City land a sensational Argentine star to cement their status.

Transfer activity for the 2012/13 season was far less interesting.

Unfortunately for them, United snatched the league title by finishing the season 11 points clear, thus seeing Roberto Mancini leave the club.

They returned in 2013 when a rebuild under Manuel Pellegrini led them to two trophies.

Fernandinho was initially seen as an expensive 28-year-old after being bought from Shakhtar Donetsk.

PARIS: France defender Ibrahima Konate has been ruled out of the Nations League after suffering a knee injury, opening the way for Manchester United’s Leny Yoro to receive his first call-up to Les Bleus’ senior squad.

Konate experienced pain in his knee during training before an MRI scan confirmed he had suffered a mild sprain in his right knee.

“Konate felt pain in his knee during training and underwent a follow-up MRI scan yesterday (Wednesday).

“He suffered a slight sprain in his right knee,” the French coaching staff said in a statement.

The Real Madrid defender will return to his club to undergo a rehabilitation process.

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Konate’s withdrawal is the third from the France squad since the international break began on Monday after goalkeeper Robin Risser and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Warren Zaire-Emery were also ruled out.

As a replacement for the former Liverpool defender, French manager Zinedine Zidane called up Yoro who has never made an appearance for the senior squad.

Yoro, 20, now has the opportunity to make his debut for Les Bleus under Zidane.

Zidane, who helped France win the World Cup as a player, will take charge of his first match as national team coach when France travel to Turkey, early this Saturday morning.

After that, France is scheduled to meet Belgium away before hosting the same opponent, with the match against Italy also taking place between the two meetings.

OEIRAS: Cristiano Ronaldo appeared before the media, admitting he was nervous before doing what he has done for more than two decades: taking the spotlight, brushing off criticism and insisting that the end of his career is not yet in sight.

The 41-year-old Portugal captain, speaking at the main stage of the Portugal Football Summit yesterday, ahead of the UEFA Nations League match against Wales early tomorrow morning, said he still has a lot to contribute to his country as Jorge Jesus makes his first appearance as national team manager.

Jesus replaced Roberto Martinez after Portugal’s World Cup campaign ended in disappointment when they were eliminated in the last 16 by eventual champions Spain.

Ronaldo now has 979 career goals – 833 for club and 146 for Portugal – and needs just 21 more to reach the 1,000 mark he has publicly targeted.

When asked whether winning the Nations League or reaching 1,000 goals was more important, he smiled and chose both.

“One goal is to achieve both – score 1,000 goals and the national team tries to win the Nations League.

“It’s a new era with the manager Jorge Jesus, who we all know; I just hope everything goes well for him,” Ronaldo said at the Portugal Football Summit at the Portuguese Football Association (FAP) headquarters outside Lisbon.

Ronaldo said scoring his 1000th goal for Portugal would be the “sweet highlight” of his career.

“Scoring your 1,000th goal for the national team would be the culmination of something – a beautiful story.

“It’s not the end, but it will be a beautiful story,” he said.

However, Ronaldo insisted he wasn’t thinking too much about chasing that number.

“I have already admitted that I want to achieve it and I will achieve it.

“An obsession? No… The rest is enjoying, enjoying every day,” he added.

Ronaldo admitted he had considered his future with the national team after Portugal’s elimination from the World Cup, but discussions with FAP and Jesus convinced him to continue playing at international level.

When asked about retirement, Ronaldo said: “I learned something since my late 30s, live for the moment and don’t think about tomorrow.

“Is it possible? Yes. Very likely? Yes. But will it happen? No, I don’t know.”

MANCHESTER: Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca admitted his brilliant start as Pep Guardiola’s successor will be quickly forgotten if he fails to continue the winning streak with the team.

Maresca faces a tough task replacing Guardiola, who won 20 trophies during his glorious 10-year era at the Etihad Stadium.

After losing to Arsenal in the Community Shield, the Italian manager made the perfect start to the season as City won six consecutive games in three different competitions.

The highlight came last weekend when City beat their neighbours, Manchester United 1-0 despite having to play for over an hour with 10 men after Phil Foden was shown an early red card.

Maresca is also supported by a record-breaking £460 million spend on new players.

He was, however, forced to let go of several high-profile players including Spain’s World Cup-winning captain, Rodri.

“I said in the first press conference, for me being at this club is a privilege and being at this club after a legend like Pep is also a privilege.

“I know if I don’t win it will be considered a disaster and that’s normal, but I don’t spend time thinking about who was here before and how long they were here,” said Maresca ahead of Sunderland’s visit in the English Premier League (EPL) tomorrow.

The former Chelsea manager added: “I’m just here to focus on what we can do better, improve the team and try to win games.

“I’m very happy with these five or six games in a row but now the main focus is just on the next game and I don’t think about the fact that we’ve won six games in a row because that game is over.

“We are focused on the next game and then we will face the international break.”

Maresca also had the opportunity to rest most of his key players when City thrashed Norwich 5-0 in the League Cup yesterday.

Teenager Floyd Samba stole the show when he scored twice on his debut, while Brazilian winger Allan also shone on his City debut by scoring a goal.