Manchester City face a possible ban from next season's Champions League, Europe in 2020

Pep Guardiola's Manchester City could find themselves banned from Europe in 2020,
Guardiola has never spent longer than four consecutive seasons in charge of any one club

A season outside of the Champions League can prove disastrous for many clubs on a financial level.

City would lose a sizeable chunk of income without European football. In the 2017-18 season they received more than £57m in prize money alone. The figure for the season just gone will have been more again.

That is a drop in the ocean for City's owners, who under expulsion from the tournament would technically be able to put more of their own money into the club for that season. It is reportedly part of the reason why Milan are currently negotiating their own ban from the Europa League for the coming campaign.

However, City would have to be careful to avoid then breaking Premier League FFP rules.

These are more lenient that UEFA's - allowing clubs to lose up to £100m over the course of three seasons under their 'Profit and Sustainability rules', although they also pose limits on how much a team can increase their wage budget by each campaign.

In any case, as Flanagan explains, City would have to think twice about a spending splurge if they were considering a return to European competition at the first possible opportunity. 

'There would not be a need to comply [with UEFA FFP obligations] if you weren’t going to compete in UEFA competitions,' he says.

'However, this would probably be quite short sighted, as FFP is assessed on a three-year rolling basis, meaning that you can’t simply drop out for one season, spend a significant amount, and then come back in the next year without worrying about the impact.

'The longitudinal nature of FFP assessments means that in order to get a short-term boost outside of UEFA’s regulatory ambit, a club would need to commit to several seasons outside of European competition.'

City's fans have long had a love-hate relationship with the Champions League. They love to hate it.

The club has even been reprimanded by UEFA before for their supporters' incessant booing of the official anthem during matches due to their previous FFP sanctions against the club back in 2014.

Add to that the heartbreak of City's two most recent exits from the competition — a defeat over two legs by Liverpool before last season's agonising loss to Tottenham — and supporters may be grateful for the break from another upsetting end.

A greater focus on domestic action may also allow them the chance to repeat the feats of last season and seek yet another domestic treble.