The wind of change is blowing towards the Etihad.

Bouts of alleged corruption have blighted the Premier League for at least two decades, but none so detrimental to the integrity of the competition as that which football fans have witnessed since at least 2021.

While Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan – Abu Dhabi’s billionaire politician and businessman who acquired majority ownership of Manchester City in 2008 – complains of “discrimination against Gulf ownership,” devotees of the Premier League eagerly await City’s first hearing into its alleged 115 breaches of financial regulations.

The hearing, originally forecast for November, has reportedly been brought forward to September.

In the meantime, a separate legal case presented by City against the League’s Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules is due to be heard by the end of August. The verdict of the class action suit will inevitably change the face of football in England, as has been the case in various legal and financial decisions in the sport since 2020.

If City – backed to varying degrees by several other major clubs, particularly those with Gulf money – is successful, the League’s APT rules will allow sponsors the freedom to decide how much they put into their respective clubs. This would be contrary to the current method of independently verified figures, which aligns more closely with fair market value: the concept which the Premier League, represented by commercial lawyers of Slaughter and May, will argue for clubs’ right to.

Just as City’s anti-APT class action suit might change football, the decision to bring forward City’s hearing from November to September will undoubtedly have a profound impact on the results of this Premier League season.

Although the club cites a “body of irrefutable evidence” of their innocence regarding the 115 charges, ask any City fan you know what the outcome of this hearing could mean for their future.

They will refer to bank-breaking fines, deductions of points, and even expulsion from the competition.