There will be a mass exodus of players and staff at Manchester City if a guilty verdict in their 115 charges case results in something as severe as Premier League expulsion.
Fantasising about something so dramatic has carried us through the international break and we do love striking while the iron is hot.
We have reassigned trophies, decided which players will leave and looked at where Pep Guardiola goes next, but what about incoming signings for Man City if they are chucked down to League Two?
Well, here are 11 players – the majority of which are lower-league gems – the Premier League champions should sign up if they have the financial capacity to do so and are not under a transfer embargo.
Hayden Hackney (Middlesbrough)
The first sign that this list will not contain unknown quantity after unknown quantity, it is worth remembering that when Rangers, for example, were booted down to the fourth tier of Scotland, they poached Premiership players like Francisco Sandaza, David Templeton, Ian Black and Dean Shiels.
Premier League players coming down with City is very unlikely but the Championship feels like a fair gap when you consider the wages on offer, on top of the potential of an up-and-coming Abu Dhabi-owned Citizens.
If City do indeed get punted down the divisions, there will surely be a promising youngster who comes along for the ride and we can see it being Middlesbrough’s Hayden Hackney.
Arsenal and Liverpool have been linked with the 22-year-old in the past, being impressed by his form under Boro boss Michael Carrick. He is pretty versatile, capable of taking on any role in the middle of the pitch. With only seven goal involvements in 36 matches this season, Hackney has probably not kicked on as much as expected but remains one of the most promising players in the Championship and is surely a player City would want to spearhead their push for back-to-back-to-back promotions.
Luke Garbutt (Salford)
Carlo Ancelotti might not have a clue who Luke Garbutt is but we do.
After terrorising Manchester United with several drubbings over the years, City could immediately endear themselves to their more relevant neighbours by nabbing their starting left-back.
Salford have been battling to get out of League Two for six years now and in truth, have never really come close. It will sting for the Class of ’92 when City earn promotion at the first time of asking.
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Antoni Sarcevic (Bradford)
Speaking of endearing themselves to their new League Two counterparts, City would do just that by signing Bradford City hero Antoni Sarcevic.
February’s League Two Player of the Month is thriving under Bantams boss Graham Alexander, with promotion to League One very much in their hands. Sarcevic has been absolutely huge this season, inspiring a run of 12 wins, two draws and two defeats in 16 games after only four wins from 15 in his absence.
His impact would be huge for a City team dealt the hammer blow of Premier League expulsion. He was actually at Man City v Plymouth in the FA Cup this season and is a Manchester lad and boyhood fan, being released by the Cityzens in 2008 after eight years as a youth player. It’s written in the stars, people.
Paudie O’Connor (Lincoln)
City can try and run rings around teams with a tiki-taka approach but the fact of the matter is, they need some right s**thouses and getting a rough central defender to get them through tricky trips to Salford and Newport should be a priority. This is where Paudie O’Connor comes into the equation.
Not only is O’Connor a bit of a hard case, but he is a very good and successful lower-league centre-back.
Louie Barry (Aston Villa)
Louie Barry might represent a Premier League club, but he has been passed around the lower divisions and is currently playing for Hull City in the Championship after spending 18 successful months on loan at Stockport County. Barry helped the Hatters earn promotion from the fourth tier last term and in the first half of 24/25, he scored an impressive 15 goals in 23 League One matches.
He probably wishes he was still at Stockport, having failed to register a goal or assist in four Championship appearances for Hull.
Barry is a name you likely first heard in 2019 when he earned an unusual transfer to Barcelona from West Brom, 20 days after his 16th birthday. It did not work out for him and he was snapped up by Villa six months later. Clearly, he has not lived up to those early career expectations and doesn’t seem like ever becoming a Premier League starter.
Only 21 years young, Barry can prove us wrong and make it at Aston Villa, though we definitely see him as a Man City player if they are on the wrong end of an unprecedented expulsion.
MORE: Steven Gerrard’s six next move options include Leeds United as Liverpool icon returns to Europe
Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu (Luton)
Here’s a man who knows a thing or two about rising up the English pyramid with one club. He can be a good luck omen if nothing else.
Ollie Pearce (York City)
You are always learning in this job. Ollie Pearce was unknown to me a few minutes before writing this but after a simple Google search, it turns out he is the National League’s top scorer. Just like us mere mortals do on Football Manager, City would potentially target the most potent scorer in the division below.
It turns out this guy is a goal machine, though he has never played in the Football League. Pearce has 23 in 37 for York this season after scoring 43 in 46 for Worthing in the National League South in 2023/24. Surrounded by players like Hackney, Mpanzu and James McAtee, we reckon the step up would be seamless enough for Pearce to be a success.
Jodi Jones (Notts County)
Robbed of so much football due to injuries, Jodi Jones is a fantastic player who deserves more than nine career Championship appearances for Coventry.
For the first time in his senior career, Jones played 20+ league games in a campaign for County in 2023/24, registering an outrageous 23 assists. He only has 14 appearances this term thanks to more injury troubles, suffering a long-term shin problem after four goals and one assist in his first six League Two matches.
Tom Heaton (Manchester United)
Like Wrexham did with Ben Foster, we can see City going out and getting an experienced ex-England goalkeeper, perhaps coaxing them out of retirement but whose standard is definitely above League Two. And no, it is not going to be Scott Carson; he is a cheerleader and nothing more.
Former Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton is currently third-choice at Manchester United and would surely be a roaring success in League Two. He is still a pretty decent goalkeeper and probably more trustworthy than Ruben Amorim’s current No. 2, Altay Bayindir.
James McClean (Wrexham)
Would be quite funny, wouldn’t it?
Will Grigg (Chesterfield)
Take your pick out of Paddy Madden, David McGoldrick, Scott Hogan, Andy Cook, Steven Fletcher, Jonson Clarke-Harris and Will Grigg.