City lodged a comprehensive appeal against the independent commission's verdict on October 1, with the club filing at 7pm ahead of the deadline.

The club's statement confirmed that the appeal rests on a claim that the commission's opinion contains "clear material errors, of law, principle and fact" and is unsafe, with the club maintaining they are "innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League" and possess "a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence" in support of their positions.

The verdict, published on September 29, found Manchester City guilty on 114 of the alleged 115 Premier League financial rule breaches between the 2009/10 and 2017/18 seasons.

The commission found that Manchester City arranged commercial sponsorship contracts under which partners paid only a fraction of the agreed fees, with the shortfall funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd - the private company owned by Sheikh Mansour that controls the club.

The schemes were assessed to have artificially inflated revenues and reduced reported costs by more than £900 million across the affected period, with the club additionally found guilty on the majority of charges related to a failure to cooperate with the investigation.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters described the case as "the most significant in Premier League history" in the league's official statement, adding that the findings "detail how the club systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade".

City's decision to respond to the verdict with an uncompromising public stance - and to pursue a full appeal rather than seek any form of settlement with the Premier League - has drawn reaction from elsewhere in the division.

The club's approach since the verdict emerged has been a flat denial of wrongdoing, a commitment to exploring all available legal avenues - in a defiant tone that does not seem to be conceding any ground to the commission's findings.

As reported by The Telegraph's Jason Burt, a number of clubs across the Premier League do not want Manchester City expelled from the division despite the scale of the guilty verdict - a position that runs contrary to some of the public commentary that has followed the commission's findings.

It has also been incorrectly reported that clubs would have a say in the sanctioning process; Burt's report clarifies that Premier League clubs will have no vote on what punishment is imposed on Manchester City. The sanctioning phase is a matter for the independent commission, not a decision to be put to member clubs.

An unnamed senior figure at a Premier League club told The Telegraph: "We are stunned at just how aggressive Manchester City are continuing to be [in the 115 charges case]. It is incredible they are not now trying to work a different angle and be more conciliatory."

The clarification that clubs will not vote on sanctions is significant given how the debate around potential punishments has been framed in parts of the media.

Expulsion from the Premier League, points deductions, fines and title stripping have all been discussed publicly, but the decision on which of those options - if any - to impose sits entirely with the independent commission and the appeals panel.

Regardless, a host of Premier League clubs - among them Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester United - are understood to be assessing compensation claims linked to the nine-year period covered by the charges, with the combined value of potential actions believed to be in the region of £800 million.

Those civil claims represent a separate legal route through which rival clubs could seek redress, distinct from whatever the commission ultimately decides on sanctions.

Reports in the English press have cited that a full resolution, across both the appeals process and any civil litigation, may not arrive until 2028 or 2029.

With the international break reaching its conclusion this week, Manchester City are due to return to Premier League action at Anfield against Liverpool on October 11, three days before hosting Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League at the Etihad Stadium.