Whilst Manchester City wait to learn their fate, subject to appeal, how could Liverpool profit from their rivals demise?
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 28: Erling Haaland of Manchester City celebrates with teammate Elliot Anderson after scoring his team’s first goal during the Premier League 2026/27 match between Crystal Palace FC and Manchester City at Selhurst Park on August 28, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Erling Haaland celebrates with Elliot Anderson after scoring for Manchester City at Crystal Palace earlier this season (Image: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
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When Liverpool face Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday afternoon, the two star-studded teams will come face-to-face for the first time this season, but all of the talk has been off the pitch.
Neither side has played a domestic match since the Premier League's bombshell announcement that City have been found guilty by an independent commission of all but one of the 115 charges they face for serious financial breaches
The Manchester club have submitted an official appeal and their case will now need to be heard, but wider focus has already turned to what sort of punishment could be bestowed on the former Premier League champions. Sanctions could range from a transfer ban, points deduction, heavy fine or even relegation or expulsion from the Premier League.
And should City effectively be kicked out of the top flight, they will face a battle to hold onto their star players, with full internationals likely to be less than enthusiastic about continuing their careers in the lower leagues.
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If the Etihad outfit are to lose some of their ultra-talented squad, who would be the best fit for a switch to the Reds? We put that question for our Liverpool writers, who have had their say.
Paul Gorst
The obvious answer here is to choose Erling Haaland as the player I'd most like to see at Anfield. But given Liverpool already have a £125m thoroughbred up front in Alexander Isak, I am going to try and get a bit more creative.
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In years gone by, someone like Kevin De Bruyne or David Silva would also have been the straightforward option, but I think the Reds remain light in the centre of midfield.
I'm almost seduced by the prospect of seeing Jeremy Doku tearing at defenders on the flanks but Liverpool are loaded with wingers and while Haaland would score a hatful up top, I am going to go down a different path here.
Ayyoub Bouaddi looks like a class act already, despite only turning 19 on October 2. The Morocco international came to City for a hefty fee of around £85.5m and you would expect a certain level of quality for that sum admittedly.
But it has been striking how at ease the teenager seems at this level and on the back of an excellent World Cup, it's easy to see why there is so much hype around him.
As someone who could be ideal in the Reds' engine room for years to come, I would pick Bouaddi as my choice from any potential fire sale at City.
Theo Squires
When Juventus were relegated for their part in the Calciopoli scandal back in 2006, the fire sale was fascinating as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Patrick Vieira, Fabio Cannavaro, Emerson, Lilian Thuram and Gianluca Zambrotta all bailed on the disgraced Serie A giants in favour of switches to Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
It was like something out of Football Manager or FIFA. But if a similar fate was to befall Man City for breaching Premier League financial regulations, the exodus from Juventus could pale in comparison to what would follow at the Etihad.
Alas, Premier League sides did not benefit as world-class star after world-class star departed Turin. But you suspect it could be a different story with Man City’s squad.
Sure, Real Madrid will be a destination of choice for many of their players. And the same is true of Barcelona, if they can make their own finances work. Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich would also be appealing destinations.
But if any of the City squad were to stay in England, then Liverpool would be at the very top of their list for their next destinations.
Erling Haaland would be the obvious choice to snap up, but I argue the Reds don’t really need him - not when they possess both Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike at least. The Swede would have to be moved on if they wished to bring in the Norwegian, though I suspect his wage demands would be too much for Liverpool given the size of his current contract.
The Reds have actually been interested in signing a number of City’s ranks in the past. Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi both quickly spring to mind.
Andoni Iraola would have little need for Guehi though, even if Virgil van Dijk does depart, with Ronald Araujo potentially joining Jeremy Jacquet and Giovanni Leoni in laying a more than solid foundation for the future.
Semenyo could be an option as a belated successor for Mohamed Salah, but he wouldn’t be Liverpool’s greatest need either.
A look elsewhere in the City squad and you can probably say the same of the likes of Jeremy Doku, Josko Gvardiol, Rayan Cherki and even Nico O’Reilly. Sure, you’d take them in your squad if the opportunity arose. But they are not burning priorities for the Reds.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 13: Elliot Anderson of Manchester City reacts during the Premier League 2026/27 match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford on September 13, 2026 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
Elliot Anderson has made a big impression already at Manchester City(Image: Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
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Which leaves one obvious choice for me as the very first person Liverpool should be fighting to snap up if Man City were to be relegated - Elliot Anderson.
The Reds’ issues in midfield this season are well documented. And while the England international is not the traditional Fabinho-esque enforcer that Liverpool have been lacking since 2023, Anderson could be the ideal sitter that Iraola’s engine-room needs - and maybe even the perfect tool to unlock Florian Wirtz’s true quality once and for all.
Both brilliant on the ball and getting it forward, and excellent at winning it back and pressing it high, it is a shame the Reds were never in for him when he joined City in the summer. If the opportunity arose to sign him again, were the eight-time champions expelled from the Premier League, it is certainly not one Liverpool should turn a blind eye to for a second time.
Richard Garnett
I was at Maine Road the day that Liverpool relegated Man City to the Football League First Division in 1996, and whilst I wouldn't have taken too many of those players and put them in a red shirt, it's a very different story these days.
Big Erling Haaland would be the top of everyone's list, but if we're only taking one, there's no need to push out Alexander Isak or Hugo Ekitike. Instead, I'm looking at midfield reinforcements. Elliot Anderson was linked with a move to Anfield in the summer before completing a £116m move to City, making him, well, very expensive.
But he is just the type of player that this Liverpool team needs, ruling the engine room with an iron fist whilst the flair players further forward do their thing. Anderson can escape the nightmare of City's demise to start and fresh down the M62 and start winning things here instead.
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