Gary Neville believes the only appropriate punishment for Manchester City would be to strip the club's current owners of control. While dismayed by the Manchester City financial case and the Premier League's reputation being dragged through the mud, Neville also trusts in the league's historical foundation to endure.

An independent commission ruled that Manchester City had seriously breached Premier League financial rules. The commission found that between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, the club created "fictitious" contracts and "disguised operational schemes," inflating club revenue by £830 million.

Manchester City is expected to appeal, with a deadline of Friday, October 2. Potential penalties include hefty fines, points deductions, expulsion from the Premier League, or retrospective stripping of previously won titles.

However, Neville believes the only punishment commensurate with the violations is for the current club ownership to exit the Premier League, expressing concern that the allegations could have far-reaching and damaging effects on English football.

"Manchester City Football Club itself will get through this because the club's history extends far beyond these owners, and the club will continue to exist after they leave; it has a profound historical foundation.

"Points deductions, fines, transfer bans, stripping of titles—not awarding titles to other teams, but simply revoking Manchester City's honours—these are all significant penalties. But the truly fair, greatly deterrent, and most severe punishment should be a change in club ownership.

"If I were Manchester City, that would be the only consequence that would concern me. And if you're a Manchester City fan who wants to retain the current investment, that's what you should be most worried about.

"But within football, when judging the severity of consequences, what could be worse than such large-scale financial doping that has already become established fact? I am not gloating.

"I am dismayed; this is chilling. I'm a Manchester United fan, Carragher supports Liverpool; Roy Keane and Ian Wright played for Manchester United and Arsenal respectively; Jill Scott played for Manchester City.

"Understanding the whole process sends shivers down my spine. Over the past 25 years, Italian football suffered immeasurable damage due to the Calciopoli scandal. We talked about Juventus before, and even then, we felt something wasn't right.

"I'm not saying the Premier League will repeat Italy's mistakes. But we have always prided ourselves on the Premier League's high credibility, setting industry standards, always believing that corruption, fraud, financial irregularities, match-fixing, and refereeing scandals were problems only seen in other leagues.

"Yet now these things are happening in our country, in our league. The Premier League is our nation's most brilliant calling card to the world.

"You travel anywhere in the world, mention Liverpool, Manchester, Arsenal, and when people ask where you're from, the Premier League is what everyone talks about most. And now our reputation is being dragged through the mud by this."

Neville's comments came shortly after former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham expressed concern about the potential loss of existing investors should Manchester City be found guilty, acknowledging the positive investment the City Football Group has brought to Manchester.

When asked if he was worried about investors leaving the club, Burnham said: "I would be very worried if we lost them.

"They have been an important partner in building modern Manchester and have truly transformed Manchester City into a world-class team."

On Wednesday, there was a new development: Manchester City's main sponsor, Etihad Airways, issued a statement saying it was assessing its legal response following the independent commission's ruling.

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