If Manchester City are found guilty of breaching the Premier League's financial rules then the landscape of world football changes. Should they be deemed innocent, as the club themselves believe they are, then it will be just as seismic.
The result of the hearing and trial, which has finished but now awaits public confirmation, is expected sooner rather than later. The league have always been keen to finalise things before the end of the season.
Many have already written City off. Their potential punishments have been debated. It could be as bad as relegation and losing past titles. Points deductions and massive fines are also possible. There are effectively no limits to the sanctions. This is an entirely unique case.
City's dominance over the decade in question - from 2009/10 to 2017/18 - and then the benefits reaped by Pep Guardiola and Co. with the squad built in the shadow of this period, are all in question. Arsenal are amongst the clubs to have suffered from City's rise.
Mikel Arteta's men have fallen short in the title race twice in a row leading into this season but were never pipped to top spot during the years under investigation. They have still been left to fight the City behemoth formed out of the shadow now under scrutiny.
Should a punishment be stripping City of their past achievements then it would stand to be one of the most dramatic and controversial decisions in sporting history. During the Calciopoli scandal involving Juventus, Milan, Lazio, and Fiorentina, in which match-fixing was being investigated, two Serie A titles were revoked. Juventus were also relegated.
Neither of the Scudetto triumphs were awarded retrospectively to the second-place sides. The Premier League would have to decide, if City were stripped of any of their titles, how to move forward.
Between 2009 and 2018 City won the league three times. They have won it five times since, including in each of the past four years going back to 2020/21.
During the years being investigated, City were champions in 2011/12 (their first title), 2013/14, and 2017/18. They then won it in 2018/19 as well.
Arsenal's issue is that in none of those seasons were they runners-up, so even if the titles were retrospectively handed out to second-place, they would not stand to add to their own trophy cabinet. They have been the team to suffer the most of late but that does not stand to get them anywhere.
Manchester United were narrowly beaten to the title in 2011/12, losing out on the final day via goal difference and Sergio Aguero. Arsenal were third, some 19 points off the pace.
In 13/14 City overcame Liverpool and Chelsea in a dramatic finish, once more taking it in the last match. Arsenal were fourth, although a more respectable seven points behind, just three from Chelsea in third.
2017/18 is a different story. This was Guardiola's first title and he became the first manager to reach 100 points, going further than Chelsea's record of 95 at the time, also scoring the most goals ever with 106. Arsenal finished sixth, 36 adrift and 12 off Liverpool in the final Champions League spot.
Matters have improved since but stripping titles after 2018 would be controversial, even more so than doing it in in the first place. City have definitely become a better team in the light of events during the investigated years but attributing that to foul play and carrying punishments over would be near impossible on a legal level.
Arsenal have gradually gotten themselves back in the conversation at least, but the Unai Emery era did not do much to help them. In 2018/19 they were fifth with Liverpool losing out to City by one point (ending on 97 and still not winning the league). Arsenal were 28 points behind the winners and only one off Tottenham in fourth.
The next two years for Arsenal were horrendous, recording back-to-back eighth-place finishes. In 2020/21 they were 25 points behind City, who cruised home 12 clear of Manchester United in second. Arsenal were still six off the top four.
The 2021/22 season was another for Liverpool to lose out on the final day by a slither. Arsenal were fifth, two away from Spurs in fourth again, and 24 off City. They have been the closest challengers since.
Arsenal collapsed at the end of 2022/23 and relinquished their lead to finish five points behind City in second. They pushed even closer last season but lost out on the last day, ending two points back.
Unfortunately for Arsenal, these second-place finishes would not be enough to be crowned champions, even in hindsight. Liverpool are the team who have missed out the most, even if it is Arsenal who have recently felt the pain and suffering the most.
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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