The strongest card Liverpool hold in any post-verdict scramble is a working relationship. Semenyo spent two and a half seasons under Iraola at Bournemouth before his January move to the Etihad, and the Spaniard was installed as Arne Slot’s successor at Anfield in June. If City are forced to move assets, no rival boss can pick up a phone with the same history.
The scenario is no longer theoretical. The Premier League’s independent commission on Wednesday found City guilty of 114 of 115 charges relating to breaches between 2009 and 2018.
Relegation sits inside the commission’s powers under Rule W64, alongside points deductions, fines and expulsion. The club has said it is “innocent of the accusations” and is expected to appeal. No sanction has been set.
TeamTalk tipped Liverpool as prime candidates for both players if City are pushed down and forced to balance the books, with Arsenal, Manchester United and clubs across Europe also circling.
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Why Semenyo would be first on the list
City paid £62.5m guaranteed with another £1.5m in add-ons to prise Semenyo away from Bournemouth on 9 January, with Liverpool among the clubs beaten to his signature at the time.
Hugo Viana, City’s director of football, said after the deal was done.
“He made it clear to us immediately that it was City he wanted to join.”
A forced resale less than a year later would almost certainly land at a discount, and Iraola is widely credited with turning the Ghana international into a top-four target in the first place. Semenyo signed a five-and-a-half-year contract running to 2031, which gives the selling club some leverage, though not enough to keep bidders away if the sporting status collapses.
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The Anfield move Guehi was already minutes from
Guehi’s name is just as loaded for Liverpool. Palace and Liverpool had agreed a £35m deal on deadline day in September 2025 before Palace pulled the plug when their replacement target, Brighton’s Igor Julio, joined West Ham on loan instead. Manager Oliver Glasner had reportedly threatened to resign if the sale went through without a replacement.
City eventually signed the England international for an initial £20m on 19 January, a sharp discount on the Liverpool number only months earlier, in a window where Pep Guardiola’s defensive injury list included Josko Gvardiol, Ruben Dias and John Stones.
If a resale is forced, Liverpool do not need to introduce themselves to the player or his agent. They had him in London for a medical ten months ago.
City’s appeal is the next deadline
City will contest the verdict and any sanction, and the appeal process can run for months. The Premier League has yet to publish the full decision, and no specific punishment has been issued.
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