Finally, as Manchester City stood on the cusp of four consecutive Premier League titles — a feat never achieved before in the 136-year history of top-league football in England — someone had the guts to say it.
Sure, City have habitually broken records and redefined what was previously considered possible under Pep Guardiola. But they're funded by an oil state and have those 115 Premier League charges still looming over everything.
It was fitting that Jurgen Klopp, Guardiola's greatest rival and the man who has suffered under the yoke of his team more than any other, was the one to speak up.
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"Everybody knows about the 115 charges but I have no clue what that means, I only know the number," Klopp said during his final round of pre-match media duties as Liverpool manager. "No matter what transpired at Man City, Pep Guardiola is the best manager in the world and that is truly significant.
"Put any other manager in Man City, they don't win the Premier League four times in a row. That's down to him and his team. Does that mean they can do whatever they want? No. But I don't know what they did — if anything — and I'm not here to say they have.
"We'll see. Of course, I'd like to know [if City are guilty] one day. Everyone wants to know. But I'll be somewhere else. The quality of Pep makes the difference, so I don't worry about these things. It's not my problem."
What? Not where you expected this to go?
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When will we find out about Man City's 115 charges?
Of course, after City's title-sealing 3-1 win over West Ham, we must address the elephant in the room. At least, it would be the elephant in the room if, in the analogy, someone kept repeatedly shouting: "Look, there's an elephant over there! What about the elephant?! When are we going to do something about elephant?! Please, for God's sake, look at the elephant!"
You see, no one talks about the 115 charges. So, if you'll permit me to be so bold…
The Premier League opened its investigation into City after the Football Leaks revelations of November 2018 that alleged a string of serious offences from the Abu Dhabi-owned club, from inflating sponsorship deals to off-payments to players and managers.
The vast majority of the most serious allegations — all of which have been repeatedly denied by City — relate to a timeframe immediately after the Abu Dhabi United Group's 2008 takeover of City and before Guardiola arrived in Manchester in 2016. Charges over non-cooperation with the Premier League's investigation brought the charge sheet up to date when City were hit with a mountain of purported infractions in February 2022.
UEFA found City guilty of non-cooperation during its own investigation into the club, the only aspect that was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) when the club successfully had a two-year ban from European competitions overturned in July 2020. Claims that City disguised equity funding as sponsorship were found to be either not proven or time-barred under UEFA's own competition rules.
Premier League rules do not have either a time-barring element or recourse to CAS and, after UEFA gave the impression of having botched its case, a more granular approach was taken. The upshot is that allegations made during the first half of Guardiola's third season in charge of City continue to cast a shadow over his and his player's achievements as his eighth comes to a close.
City's case is complex and it's imperative for all parties that due process is followed.
Everton and Nottingham Forest have been charged and punished under the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules as City's 115 rumble away in the background and across social media. This is because Everton and Forest have effectively been caught shoplifting and admitted to it. City have been sponsored by the shop to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds and the Premier League's legal team must convince an independent commission that the shop doesn't actually exist. It's just not as straightforward.
The commission is expected to convene during the final quarter of 2024, with a verdict anticipated before the end of next season.
MORE: Everton and Nottingham Forest's PSR cases explained
In trying to be seen to do a better job on this matter than UEFA, the Premier League has landed itself with an optics nightmare. Anecdotally, a view has developed that a competition that has charged its champion team with over 100 rule violations is actually trying to protect them while kicking the little guys. Throw this fiasco into an era of rising ticket prices, VAR woes and supporters feeling detached from an increasingly stratified and unequal sport, and you're left with a grim picture.
You also have an out. To paraphrase Homer Simpson: "To Manchester City! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems." It would have been very easy for Klopp to play to the gallery on this one and it speaks well of him that he didn't. On the other hand, why would he want to downplay a sporting rivalry of relentless high achievement that will define him and Guardiola? Admitting you were beaten by a genius has a better ring to it than claiming you were beaten by accountants and lawyers.
How did Man City win the Premier League again?
Over recent weeks there have been column inches dedicated to how it is impossible to compete with City's financial might and that a title triumph that needed them to win on the final day of the season has long been inevitable.
It didn't feel inevitable when Son Heung-min surged through on goal on Tuesday night, let in by a mistake from the £15 million Borussia Dortmund cast-off who was bailed out by the man who arrived on a free transfer from Armenia Bielefeld.
Yes, Stefan Ortega's moment of heroism came after he stepped off a substitutes' bench that retained an unused £100m worth of Jack Grealish. City are phenomenally well-resourced. Guardiola has rubber-stamped his status as the most terminally online manager in the Premier League by talking about net spend recently, but a gargantuan wage bill underpins their success.
To acknowledge this and the charges is absolutely correct. The reality remains, as Klopp said, that none of this works as it does without Guardiola and his obsession, his tactical shape-shifting and boundless capacity to mould and improve the individuals at his disposal.
"The group this season is difficult to find, to replace the quality of the human beings and how they show respect," Guardiola said this week. During the close season, he moved on Riyad Mahrez, Aymeric Laporte and Joao Cancelo who, for all their ample footballing talent, might not have always measured up to those standards.
"When they have bad moments, they solve it and talk to each other. We've had conflicts between them, between me. It's normal, but how they solve it, this is key, because it makes our routine every day better."
If Manuel Akanji's mistake at Tottenham resulted in the collapse of City's title bid, it would have felt utterly cruel. The Switzerland international, presumed to be no more than extra defensive cover when he joined in September 2022, has been City's best centre-back this season, with his performances leaving treble-winning heroes John Stones and Ruben Dias to collect their thoughts on the bench at times during this run-in.
Akanji has also thrived in both full-back positions and grappled with midfield duties. City have their obvious stars. Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland have racked up phenomenal numbers despite missing a combined seven months through injury this season, but there was no queue of suitors for Akanji, much like no one was falling over themselves to sign Nathan Ake for £41m in 2020 after he was relegated with Bournemouth.
Josko Gvardiol was a different case, widely recognised as one of the standout young players in Europe before City made him the second-most expensive defender in history last summer. What wasn't part of the script was the 22-year-old being transformed into an implausible marauding hybrid of Franz Beckenbauer and Roberto Carlos, banging in goals at the Santiago Bernabeu and being an indispensable attacking outlet.
The only defender to have cost more than Gvardiol is Harry Maguire. Guardiola also wanted to buy him. Imagine how different things might have been for the England defender, had he taken the road away from self-perpetuating toil on the other side of Manchester. Aside from his broader and widely influential tactical visions, Guardiola's capacity to hone and improve elite footballers (unless your name is Kalvin Phillips) sets him apart.
Which brings us to Pep's pet project. His noi especial. Picking up the slack as De Bruyne recuperated following hamstring surgery, Phil Foden assumed the mantle and became City's main man. The 23-year-old Englishman was their creative fulcrum and proved decisive in big moments over and over.
Guardiola has acclaimed Foden as the most talented player he has ever coached but also used more stick than carrots in his public statements about the player. Even this weekend, prior to his magnificent early brace against West Ham setting the party mood, he said he feels Foden can still improve. All those heavy words have boomed through this season, through 27 goals and 11 assists in all competitions.
After his mistake led to Crystal Palace burgling a 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium in December and Haaland joined De Bruyne on the sidelines, Foden carried City away from a bleak midwinter . His version of a warm-weather break was dazzling to take down Fluminense in the Club World Cup final.
The team was shaped around him, with Kyle Walker rolling back the years to batter his way up and down the right flank and let Foden roam in-field. If it wasn't Walker doing that job, it was Bernardo Silva moving from the right wing to holding midfield and back again within the same half. Another reason to use the sweat-soaked Portuguese everyman like this was Rodri's increased attacking prowess. Not content with being a domineering midfield pivot, he can now be found joining the press and racking up goals involvements. The title-sealing strike against West Ham was his ninth of the season to go alongside 14 assists.
Perhaps scoring the winner in the Champions League final gives one an appetite for such things. Whatever the reason, Rodri having a very legitimate claim over being the best footballer in the world right now was impossible to envisage during his debut 2019/20 season in Manchester. Back then, the standout feature of Abu Dhabi's latest £62.8m outlay was him having, somewhat fittingly, all the mobility of an oil tanker.
After years of prompting from Guardiola, Foden has finally added the desired tempo control and widescreen appreciation of the game to his vast skill set. As Euro 2024 looms, everything seems possible for a truly generational talent.
The same remains true for City, however long Guardiola is around. He has pledged to see out his contract until the end of next season, by which point we should have a verdict on those 115 charges. That will shape how this period of City pre-eminence is viewed. Guardiola's place in history, as Klopp can vouch for, is now completely beyond debate.
