It was reported earlier on Monday that the most likely punishment would be to dock so many points that it would effectively be impossible for City to avoid relegation.

That might not even be the end of it, though, with the Daily Mail claiming that the EFL could impose another deduction on City if they are in the Championship next season.

This deduction would be significant enough to stop them from getting promoted at the first attempt, meaning they would have to spend at least two seasons in England's second tier.

There would be no obligation for the EFL to impose any further punishment, given that City's offences were committed when they were in the Premier League.

That would be a disastrous scenario for City, who would find themselves at risk of losing key players who might not want to spend two seasons in the Championship.

There is a wider appetite within football for the Premier League to make an example of City, given the scale of their wrongdoing over a nine-season period between 2009 and 2018.

Steven Gerrard, who was a member of the Liverpool side that finished second to City in 2013/14, believes any punishment they receive must be extremely serious.

Speaking on The Overlap, he said: "There needs to be an example set, historically whether that's a star throughout all the years of their achievements.

"Because then it doesn't matter whether the titles are stripped or not, as soon as that star is there, then everyone knows that [success] happened because of what we all know happened.

"So that takes a slot away from the Championship, so it's not fair on the EFL or the teams playing against City week in, week out.

"I think it's more moving forward in the Premier League, to punish them over a period of time, multi-year punishment, that would be my opinion. I'm not saying that's the right opinion but that's just how I feel."