The Clubs That Could Inherit Man City's PL Titles

IF MANCHESTER CITY WERE STRIPPED OF THEIR PREMIER LEAGUE TITLES, THESE CLUBS COULD INHERIT THEM 👀🏆

Manchester City's reported guilty verdict on 114 of the 115 Premier League charges has immediately raised one explosive question: what happens to the titles they won if sporting sanctions are eventually imposed retrospectively?

Nothing has been decided yet. City are expected to appeal, sanctions have not been determined and the full written verdict has not been made public.

But if a punishment eventually resulted in City's affected titles being removed from the historical records, the simplest scenario would be for the original runners-up to move into first place.

And the potential redistribution would produce some remarkable changes to Premier League history.

🏆 2011/12 — Manchester United

This one would be particularly brutal.

Manchester City famously won the title on the final day after Sergio Agüero's stoppage-time goal against QPR.

United finished second on the same number of points, losing the title only on goal difference.

If City's title were removed and the runner-up inherited it, Manchester United would become champions.

🏆 2013/14 — Liverpool

Liverpool came agonisingly close to ending their long wait for the Premier League title.

Brendan Rodgers' side finished second with 84 points, just two behind Manuel Pellegrini's Manchester City.

If the 2013/14 title were retrospectively reassigned to the runner-up, Liverpool would finally receive the championship they narrowly missed out on.

🏆 2017/18 — Manchester United

Pep Guardiola's City produced the first 100-point season in Premier League history.

United finished second — but a massive 19 points behind their neighbours.

If City were stripped of the title and the runner-up automatically inherited it, United would add another league championship to their history.

🏆 2018/19 — Liverpool

This is where things become particularly controversial.

Liverpool finished the season with 97 points — one of the highest totals ever recorded without winning the Premier League.

City finished one point ahead.

If the title were reassigned to the runner-up, Liverpool would become champions with 97 points, dramatically rewriting one of the most famous title races in English football.

And what about City's later titles?

Manchester City also won the Premier League in 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24, completing an unprecedented four consecutive titles from 2020/21 to 2023/24.

Under a purely hypothetical “give the title to the runner-up” scenario, that would mean:

2020/21 → Manchester United 🔴

2021/22 → Liverpool 🔴

2022/23 → Arsenal 🔴

2023/24 → Arsenal 🔴

That would produce an absolutely extraordinary hypothetical redistribution:

🔴 Manchester United — 3 additional titles

🔴 Liverpool — 3 additional titles

🔴 Arsenal — 2 additional titles

But there is a major legal caveat.

There is currently no decision saying these clubs will inherit anything.

Even if City ultimately receive a retrospective sporting punishment, the commission would have to determine exactly how that sanction operates. Historical titles are not automatically handed to the runners-up simply because a champion is punished.

So for now, this remains a hypothetical reshaping of Premier League history, not an official redistribution.

But if the most straightforward runner-up scenario ever became reality, the Premier League's trophy cabinet would look dramatically different.

And the biggest winners?

Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal.