Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard could finally put a career regret of his to rest, with the Manchester City case opening up an opportunity for him to be a title winner.
Steven Gerrard, working as a television pundit for TNT Sports ahead of the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 League Phase MD1 match between Liverpool FC and Atletico de Madrid
Steven Gerrard's Liverpool regret may finally be fixed(Image: (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images))
Steven Gerrard could finally get his hands on the Premier League title, 12 years on from his best chance of doing so with Liverpool, as the Manchester City case twists once again.
Reports recently emerged that an independent panel has found Manchester City guilty of all but one of the 115 charges brought against it, after a three-year wait since the Premier League first brought the allegations.
The alleged breaches, made public in February 2023, include failing to provide accurate financial information, potential breaches of league financial rules, and a lack of co-operation in the investigation.
Manchester City has refuted these claims, denying any wrongdoing, while an official decision is yet to be published by the independent panel. If the reported claims of a guilty verdict do materialize, then the club is expected to appeal.
Should that verdict be reached, then the possible sanctions are wide-ranging and could be anything from a fine to points deductions, or even the stripping of titles.
If the latter were to happen, then Liverpool would receive at least one Premier League title, that being the 2013/14 season when the Reds finished second to Manchester City - which falls in the 2009 to 2018 period investigated by the division- while it's unclear if the 2018/19 season would be eligible to be stripped, along with the 2021/22 season, for Jurgen Klopp's side to also be crowned as multiple-time winners.
If the Merseyside outfit were to land the 2013/14 title retrospectively, then one of the huge impacts would be that Liverpool icon Gerrard could finally be declared a Premier League title winner.
The midfielder won plenty during his time at Anfield, but he wasn't quite able to get the team over the line in the league, with infamous games against Chelsea and Crystal Palace living long in the memory from that 2013/14 campaign.
Gerrard weighs up a free-kick during Steven Gerrard's final game at Anfield the Liverpool v Crystal Palace
Steven Gerrard came close to winning the Premier League with Liverpool(Image: (Photo by Tom Jenkins/Getty Images))
If the decision is given, then Gerrard may finally be able to put one of his only regrets from his career to rest. "I look back at it with pride," Gerrard said back in 2015 when announcing his exit from Liverpool, reflecting on his time with the club.
"I am really proud of what I have achieved here, all the trophies I have won and all the great memories I have had, but certainly not winning the Premier League is a dent in that. "There is nothing I can do about it now but it is certainly a regret I will go away with. But I have to look at the big picture -- [with] 708 appearances, I have achieved an awful lot more than I thought I would.
"If someone had said to me at eight when you used to get two buses to Anfield to train [at the centre of excellence], 'You are going to play 708 games, win the trophies but have some low points,' I would have taken that."
The Man City case has certainly been on his mind since, with the former midfielder reflecting on the situation back in 2020 when the club was initially in a battle with UEFA over finances - when an initial ban from European competition eventually lifted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), with most of the alleged breaches either not established or expired due to being time-barred by UEFA's own rules, resulting in a reduced fine of €10 million.
"We will wait and see," Gerrard said in February 2020, during a press conference as Rangers manager. "From a UEFA point of view, it is obviously a real strong sentence or punishment. I'm sure they will appeal so we will wait and see what the outcome is on that.
"Then we will see whether the Premier League act from there. But if you look at the severity of the punishment from UEFA, something has gone badly wrong. So I'm really interested to see the outcome of that. Until I get the punishment from the Premier League, I won't comment further. But I'm really, really interested in it...for obvious reasons.
"It's all ifs and buts. It is what it is. Manchester City were champions. As I sit here right now, congratulations to them. They are champions. Until things develop, if they develop, it's all ifs and buts. I've got nothing to say on the matter. All I say is I'm very interested because of the severity of what UEFA have put out there."
12 years on from the failed title bid and six years on from that claim, there may be some end in sight for Gerrard and his hopes of landing a Premier League. It will all depend on the outcome, and any potential appeal, but the possibility is still there.