Gary Neville has warned the Premier League that they'll be seen as "incompetent" if their charges against Manchester City fail to hold up.
The Manchester United legend also criticised top-flight chiefs for being "really sloppy" after it emerged that the Premier League had quietly changed some of the charges which were brought against the reigning champions on Monday morning. City face more than 100 breaches of the league's financial rules, dating back to 2009 in the years following their lucrative takeover led by Sheikh Mansour.
Discussing the allegations - which the club deny - on Sky Sports, Neville affirmed: " They've got a major fight on their hands, and there's going to be a major loser here. The Premier League are going to be found to be incompetent if they can't land the charges, and obviously if they do land the charges on Manchester City then it's going to obviously tarnish the last 10 years for many people - particularly clubs who've been fighting that sort of, if you like, fight against them.
"I come at it from two different ways - if they broke the rules they should get the book thrown at them and that will happen, but if they haven't then the Premier League, four years it's taken them, I'm a little bit nervous about the Premier League's defence in the sense that this morning they've had six of the charges changed which is really sloppy having been investigating it for four years."
The former United captain added: "This will play out for a few years, I have to say I don't get angry about Manchester City and these charges over the last 10-15 years, because for me it's just another thing that has happened in football."
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City boss Pep Guardiola came out swinging in his first media appearance since the charges were levelled at his club, who avoided serious financial and sporting punishment from UEFA in 2020 after winning an appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport. "My first thought is we're already being condemned. It's the same with UEFA, we were already condemned," Guardiola claimed on Friday.
"We are lucky we live in a country where everyone is innocent until proven guilty. It seems like we have already been sentenced. What is going to happen, I don't know. We think we have good lawyers and we are going to defend our position. Time will depend what happens. We will see what a judge, the Premier League decides. In the same way with UEFA, we are innocent."
