Premier League chief executive Richard Masters poses with the Premier League trophy
Football finance expert Stefan Borson has strongly refuted a claim that Manchester City should face restrictions on player trading.
City's 130 breaches of the Premier League's financial rules loom large, having initially been charged in February 2023.
Former Manchester City chairman David Bernstein3
Former City chairman David Bernstein is not a fan of City being able to freely spend with the charges hanging over their heads
However, an official ruling is yet to be handed down, even though a hearing took place between September and December 2024.
In that time, City have been free to sign and sell players, including the nine-figure acquisitions of Enzo Fernandez and Elliot Anderson this summer.
David Bernstein's verdict on Manchester City's financial breaches
But for former FA chairman Bernstein, who was City chairman from 1998 to 2003, believed a transfer embargo should have been in place once the club was charged.
"If in another industry, if say a bank, an individual banker, had 115 charges against him or her for let's call it bad behaviour," Bernstein said on talkSPORT's White and Jordan.
"Would they be allowed to continue acting as a banker, carry on their business and so on and so forth, dealing in whatever?
"I say they would not be, they would be in effect suspended for a period of time until their innocence, hopefully, was proved, in which case they could carry on.
"I wouldn't do it, certainly, by sort of banning the club from playing or anything, but I think I would do it by putting restrictions on its ability to buy and sell players.
"That's where we come back to this key central point."
Darren Moore lands new international job nine months after Port Vale sackingMurphy: Scott must fix one weakness before £80m transferWho are Sabah? Man United's tiny rivals have manager who started career by winning £1k'Very sad' - Alexis Mac Allister drops Liverpool transfer bombshell after contract snub
Stefan Borson hits back at David Bernstein's embargo claim
However, Borson vehemently disagreed with Bernstein's stance.
Borson pointed out that, at this stage, City have not been officially charged, meaning they are only allegations at this point.
Enzo Fernandez playing for Man City3
Fernandez joined City from Chelsea in an eye-watering £125m transfer on deadline day
Because of that, Borson insisted that any punishment for a party under allegation 'is neither in the rules or legal'.
"It's not happened in terms of Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and Everton or anybody else," Borson said on White and Jordan.
"So the idea that you would hold City in some kind of status for two, three, four, five years is obviously not right legally and would create irreparable harm and prejudice.
"These are allegations until proven and there's a process by which they will be either proven or dismissed."
Borson was also scathing on the fact a verdict has not been handed down given the two-year anniversary of the hearing's conclusion is mere months away.
"When you screw the process up, and I say they've screwed it up, this happens," Borson continued.
Bernardo Silva lifts the FA Cup alongside John Stones3
City have won six major trophies since they were charged with the initial FFP breaches
"You start the dialogue of people making silly allegations, suggestions that City should effectively wait five years between buying a player.
"These are not things that are possible, even under the rules. The rules are very clear. The Premier League investigates a scenario. If they believe that there is a case to answer, they bring it to an independent commission and the independent commission decides what the sanction will be. That's it.
"There is no process for penalising a club or suspending a club's operation before that process runs."