According to the Daily Mail, the EFL could impose an additional points deduction if City play in the Championship next season.

The proposed deduction would reportedly be large enough to prevent City from securing an immediate return to the Premier League, leaving them facing at least two seasons in the Championship.

Relegation would also require them to comply with the EFL’s financial regulations. From this season, the Championship’s previous loss limits have been replaced by a squad cost rule, which would apply to City in this hypothetical 2027/28 scenario.

Under that system, spending on player wages, the head coach’s salary and agent fees cannot exceed 85 per cent of income. Transfer payments are accounted for when they fall due within the annual assessment period, which runs from May 1 to April 30.

Money received from transfers increases income, while outgoing payments reduce it. That includes instalments owed on signings made in previous seasons, with deals completed early in the summer falling into the new accounting period.

City would have time to adapt following relegation, but would not be exempt from the requirements. The club would need to submit its financial plan to the EFL before the summer transfer window opened. Although real-time monitoring would begin with the January window, the league could block summer registrations if it anticipated a breach.

City’s squad costs could reach approximately £337m if they retained their first-team squad for 2027/28, assuming Omar Marmoush was sold, Kalvin Phillips returned and younger players were loaned out again.

That estimate comprises £288m in player wages and employer costs, £11.5m for Enzo Maresca and £37.4m in agent fees.

Selling Haaland could, however, bring City within the spending limit under those projections without requiring further departures.

A £150m deal would remove his £30.8m wage bill, while receiving half the transfer fee during the season would add £75m to the income recognised under the rules. With no new signings, that would turn a projected £72m breach into £22.5m of headroom.

That cushion would depend on the EFL’s assessment of City’s income and costs. A reduction of around £26m in eligible revenue would eliminate it, while agent fees returning to the previous year’s £52.1m would leave approximately £8m to spare. A sale below roughly £98m would leave City above the limit.

Selling Haaland for £150million would generate an accounting profit of £127.5m against his remaining £22.5million book value, before transaction costs. Marmoush’s departure would contribute a further £28m in profit.

Even so, projected revenue of £373m would be outweighed by £257m in player wages, £110m in coaching and staff costs, £197m in other operating expenses and £209m in player amortisation. After accounting for those sales, the model projects a loss of approximately £260million before interest and tax for 2027/28.

The owners would need to provide around £297m to cover the season and the fine assumed in the calculation. A final ruling is expected in early 2027, in line with deadlines set out in the Premier League’s rulebook.