Manchester City’s legal battle with the Premier League has been delayed.

City are facing a total of 115 separate charges relating to the breaches of financial rules.

An independent commission began hearing evidence in September and it was scheduled to last 10-12 weeks.

But according to The Sun, the ongoing hearing has now been placed on a brief pause before the final arguments from both sides are made and will not conclude until the middle of next month.

This all means that there are still months of proceedings left before any potential punishment could be enforced, should City be found guilty of the charges

Any final verdict is expected to come with written reasons amounting to around 400 pages. And if any charges are upheld by the commission, there will also be a second part to the hearing to discuss sentencing options.

Sanctions for City could include relegation, huge fines or points deductions, and the retrospective stripping of titles.

Any appeal from City’s side could well extend the process even more – meaning that a final verdict might not be known until well into next season.