Liverpool is one of four Premier League clubs that have lodged legal notices reserving the right to pursue compensation if Manchester City is found guilty in its high-profile ongoing case against the Premier League.
The Times reports that Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham have also lodged compensation claims that they will pursue if City is found guilty of serious charges among the 115 Premier League financial rules the club is alleged to have breached.
City was hit with the charges early in 2023 but the charges are only now being heard, with the independent regulatory commission’s outcome not expected to be disclosed until early in the new year.
The Times reported that each of the four clubs that lodged legal notices on the comment refused to comment when approached by the newspaper.
It is claimed that lawyers advised the four clubs that there was a potential six-year statute of limitations period dating from November 5, 2018, when the German outlet Der Spiegel — with the assistance of the Football Leaks website — initially published the allegations against City.
That period expired last week, and there were said to be concerns among Liverpool, Arsenal, United and Spurs, that if they hadn’t lodged formal legal notices prior to the statute of limitations expiring, they might not have been able to pursue compensation.
The Times report adds: “Although City’s alleged rule breaches date from 2009, the 1980 Limitation Act’s six-year period for legal claims for breaches of contract in the UK allows an exception where that breach has been concealed. That would allow the six-year period to begin when details of the alleged breaches were made public. If the charges against City are proven, clubs could claim for loss of income for missing out on the league title, qualification for the Champions League or other European competitions over the course of several seasons, which could total hundreds of millions of pounds.”
