Imagine a world where Manchester City had not used "sham contracts" to build a team capable of winning three Premier League titles, one FA Cup and three EFL Cups.

If City were the winners, then there had to be losers - and not just those teams who finished runners-up or lost cup finals.

The potential impact runs much deeper and includes missed Champions League qualification, relegation and Premier League prize money.

The 2015-16 EFL Cup final proved to be decisive for Liverpool's hopes of European football.

Jurgen Klopp's men lost to City on penalties following a 1-1 draw. The Europa League place transferred to the league, and went to West Ham United.

Liverpool only finished eighth, which was not enough to qualify for Europe.

Had Liverpool won the final, they would have entered the Europa League, and this provides a key financial comparison.

Manchester United won the Europa League in 2016-17, receiving prize money of ﾣ37.8m. As part of that amount, the Red Devils' market pool payment, which is based upon the value of the television rights, was ﾣ26.6m.

While we cannot say for certain that Liverpool would have won the Europa League, they were a club of similar stature to Manchester United, which provides a comparison.

The market pool share may also have been slightly lower with both Liverpool and Manchester United involved.

Together with Premier League place money of ﾣ10.6m - Liverpool finished below City in all nine relevant seasons - the total financial impact on the Merseyside club was ﾣ52.3m.