The inside story of the Man City case - and clues as to what comes next

When it eventually dropped, it was almost subdued, as events of such magnitude often are; the bang before the sound wave. On Thursday 24 September, the Premier League clubs were given a very short statement informing them that all but one charge in the Manchester City case had been proven. Even that was subject to a stringent NDA. Cue, the very next afternoon, more noise than English football has ever experienced about anything. Amidst all of that, and so many questions, right up to what Pep Guardiola was now thinking, a figure even more central to all of this publicly quoted the former Man City manager. Rui Pinto, as part of a much longer social media post that heralded a “historic decision for English football”, acknowledged an irony in how he couldn’t help remembering Guardiola’s words at his first City press conference. “Fasten your seat belts,” remarked Guardiola in 2016. Watch more on Independent TV: https://tinyurl.com/yc7ukx9n Independent Sport brings you the latest and greatest in global sporting events, featuring expert analysis and reliable updates from the biggest fixtures on the planet. Subscribe: https://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-Independent Find us on social: TikTok /   / independentsport   Instagram /   / independentsport   X (Twitter) /   / independent   Facebook /   / theindependentonline   Download the iOS & Android app: https://tinyurl.com/2s3ts5dh Sign up to our newsletters: https://tinyurl.com/2bmw565x Help to support truly independent journalism. Every dollar you contribute will directly fund additional special reports and investigations from a free-thinking, award-winning newsroom you can trust: https://www.independent.co.uk/donations