James: Relegation to League One (at least). A star (*) added to the historical record (in line with the asterisk system in the US) for each trophy won during the breach period. Transfer embargo (two years). Front page of MC website must display the verdict prominently for one full season.

Rory Smith
Football correspondent for the Observer on BBC Radio 5 Live

Is there reputational damage that will last, whatever happens? I think there will be a commercial impact. It does call into question so much of the last 15/16 years; it casts a shadow at the very least.

You're potentially taking moments from people. If you strip City of the titles and you give Jose Mourinho a winner's medal, he doesn't get that moment and neither do the fans.

Sam Lee
The Athletic's Manchester City correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Live

I don't think we can grasp the enormity of it. So what does that mean? Does it affect the value of the project and its ability to get sponsors?

It's easy to imagine companies not wanting to be on the front of the shirt or the hoardings.

Sam Lee
The Athletic's Manchester City correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Live

Up until the last hour or so Manchester City have not communicated downwards. The circle of trust at City, the amount of people who knew this was happening, was very small. We are talking about the very top of the club. There's even quite senior employees who were not in the loop and that may only be changing as we speak.

A few weeks after the hearing finished Erling Haaland signed that new contract and they spent money on new players. So publicly it seemed like they were confident the world wasn't going to end. It's gone on for so long you almost forget.

Sam Lee
The Athletic's Manchester City correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Live

This isn't going to blow over; it'll hang around.

They're in a very difficult position. Guardiola was always a good voice for the club but they don't have that spokesperson anymore.

This is a strategy they'll have to work out. Can they leave it to Enzo Maresca? I don't think so.

Fans from other clubs won't let it go. This is so big that there is no escape.

Sam Lee
The Athletic's Manchester City correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Live

It's like a bottomless pit of hell. Does Marcus Rashford sue because his earnings didn't go up because United missed out on the Champions League? It's endless.

The other clubs will be delighted with this. The atmosphere is going to be toxic, all of them.

City go to Liverpool next.

Stefan Borson, football finance expert, speaking to 5 Live: "Manchester City may look towards some sort of group settlement with a number of clubs based on certain metrics, but if not we may be in some sort of period where clubs are not fighting each other but going after City for financial losses that will run into the tens of millions of pounds in all likelihood. It's not even ambulance chasers running that, but some of the best firms in the country.

"The independent commission are going to go for City hard in the next process. Those findings of fact will be hard to overturn at an appeal. City's statement suggest they are perhaps going to push around the idea the panel was not impartial. Those types of arguments are unlikely to succeed. It might make sense not to appeal, but City will appeal."

Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Live

It could be a points deduction, removal from the Premier League, or stripping of titles. We don't know what they'll go for when the sanctions finally arrive.

Rory Smith
Football correspondent for the Observer on BBC Radio 5 Live

There is no world in which Man City do not appeal for as long as possible. They have strenuously maintained their innocence. It has a public image sphere to it.

For the owners to have to accept the reputational damage, it's almost too much. We might not even be halfway through it.

Stefan Borson, football finance expert, speaking to 5 Live: "We are now in uncharted territory. It's positive the Premier League's governance procedures and desire to punish wrongdoing appears to have been vindicated but the fallout is enormous.

"It's beyond just places in the league. There's players' bonuses, there's even players' salaries in given seasons which can change on the basis of whether you qualify for the Champions League or not. A number of players will 20% or 25% increase based on being in the Champions League which might have been lost.

"There's managers who have lost bonuses. There's a whole raft of consequential losses which may have been caused by City's breaches. To try to unravel it is incredibly difficult."

Josh: Does this mean Steven Gerrard will finally get a Premier League winners medal? That's all I want to know.

Rory Smith
Football correspondent for the Observer on BBC Radio 5 Live

If City are found guilty, then you have a league that can't really function. We've seen with the Everton case that teams are willing to do it if you're in breach of the rules.

If it's the case that this verdict stands through the appeal process, then what does the last 17 years of the Premier League mean? Does it count? What does the future of the Premier League look like?

That's why you need to have a degree of integrity in the top competition.

Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Live

The likes of Villa and Newcastle, who are trying to break into the top four but are stopped by PSR restrictions, must be looking at this tonight and how Man City spent what they wanted to break through and think it's unfair they're in this position.

They should be punished, really.

Stefan Borson, football finance expert, speaking to 5 Live: "The Premier League don't want the process transparent at this point. Nobody has made any attempt to explain the timetable, process and participants. Everything we know has been briefed out or leaked out and this is no different.

"We don't know who was on the panel and we won't know until the decision is published. There's probably a debate ongoing right now as to whether this document could be published before the next part of the process.

"I think there's a public interest in that coming out and giving an insight into the results, the reasons for and we will know at that point who is on the independent commission, who decided what and when everything took place. The sanction part of the process will also be in private and we'll all be waiting round for it to drop in a similar way at some point in the future."

David Ornstein
The Athletic's football correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Live

This is a day that got us closer to a resolution. I don't know if it's a day of acceptance by City. But it's a day closer to clarity than ever before.

David Ornstein
The Athletic's football correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Live

When we broke the news, there were a lot of questions about what happens next. What is the sanction?

The more conversations I've had indicate that there are lawyers out there who have been proposing action to clubs for quite some time. Clubs will have been speaking. We saw what happened with Burnley and Everton. Action has happened and it probably will again.

There is so much at stake here, it's inevitable we'll see action. The clubs will come forward to try to take action and that is one of the greatest stories in all of this.

This is a seismic day. You'd imagine the sanctions would come quite soon but the appeal would take quite some time.

Stefan Borson, football finance expert, speaking to 5 Live: "Lawyers do not mislead their clients in these situations. They are normally frank. City had a legal team from Clifford Chance and a whole host of the very best barristers - not just from this country but the world - and those people who go through hearings, they sense direction of travel. They don't tend to sugarcoat it and they will have laid out the risks.

"Overall City's conclusion as a group does appear to have been found wanting. But it happens. People lose cases they expect to win. The position City are now is a difficult spot, because to appeal this scale of defeat is going to be very difficult."

David Ornstein
The Athletic's football correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Live

Things haven't been announced to the public but the clubs have been informed. We've had so many stages of the process. This is a case that goes back to 2009. When you get to the logistical end, maybe you think it should have been handled in a more formal way.

It's not as easy as suggested but it would be easier for all parties if it came out in a slightly cleaner way.

David Ornstein
The Athletic's football correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Live

We had started to get wind earlier today. My colleague was hearing it was coming and that it wasn't good news for Man City so you start making your checks.

Dale Johnson gave a really good summary of it all when he mentioned that clubs have been informed and the NDA (non-disclosure agreement).

It wasn't a complete surprise but in terms of Rory's point, during the international break, it's a bit quieter.

Rory Smith
Football correspondent for the Observer on BBC Radio 5 Live

If you look at the way the day played out, it's pretty clear City weren't expecting it to come out today. They put a statement out via a spokesperson. I think they've been caught cold by it.