Manchester City have been warned they face ‘years and years’ of legal cases if their Premier League rivals sue them for damages.Prior to the verdict in the club’s Premier League financial rules case, four top-flight sides pre-reserved their right to sue City for damages.The walls are closing in on City but they still maintain their innocenceGettytalkSPORT’s Ben Jacobs has now detailed how Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur could seek over £100million each, and could even join forces to pursue a mammoth lawsuit against them.Meanwhile, additional legal challenges from other Premier League clubs past and present could follow along with sides across Europe seeking damages of their own.talkSPORT previously revealed clubs were considering launching collective legal action in light of the independent commission’s ruling.City have been found guilty of all charges against them, the Premier League announced on Tuesday.The club are expected to appeal against the decision, having been given a deadline of Friday to respond to the verdict.City face potential £400m lawsuitProviding an update on what is set to come next for City, Jacobs explained: “Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs have all pre-reserved their rights to sue Manchester City for damages, predominantly for seasons where they missed out on Champions League football or potentially silverware.“Each could seek over £100million, but you have a wider issue for City if found guilty subject to appeal and that is collective action.“There’s two routes. One is the clubs could pool together and start their own individual action for compensation, but for one lump payment distributed in different ways.“Or the simpler legal solution is for the Premier League to take class action for damages and then choose how to distribute it.“You could say clubs that went down might want compensation. You could say at a very base level, clubs that feel Manchester City should be removed from the league in those seasons bump themselves up a place and that’s a little bit extra prize money.United are one of four Premier League clubs who have pre-reserved their right to sue City for damagesGetty“You’ll have teams that missed out on European football and silverware. So this is a very complicated legal situation.“Whereas the City case can hopefully resolve itself before the season is out, the damages if they’re found guilty subject to appeal could lead to years and years and years of legal cases.“This is why certain clubs like the four I mentioned are already prepared.“There’s even a chance European clubs look at the situation and they lost out to Manchester City in the Champions League in some of the seasons in question and they decide they’re entitled to something as well.”City’s offences took place between 2009 and 2018, a period in which they did not finish lower than fifth in the Premier League.They also won three titles and failed to qualify for the Champions League just once, in the 2009/10 campaign.City won three Premier League titles during the nine-year period in which their offences took placeGettyThe club won a further FA Cup, Community Shield and three League Cups as well as reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2016.talkSPORT understands Premier League clubs are set to contact chief executive Richard Masters to stress the need for a conclusion to the case before the end of this season including appeals.Independent Football Regulator latestFollowing the confirmation of the independent commission’s verdict, several other bodies could also look through the case against City.Amongst them is the Independent Football Regulator, which was created in September 2025, two-and-a-half years after City were first charged.Explaining how the regulator could become involved, Jacobs added: “The Independent Football Regulator was not around when this case started.“It is now and they have the power and the ability to effectively re-review directors and owners.The Independent Football Regulator could re-review City’s owners and directors as well as looking into the caseGetty“So as this case comes to a close, sources tell me the Independent Football Regulator wants to also comb through everything regarding the owners and individual directors to determine whether any other action is necessary.“The same applies to the FA as well. With Chelsea, it was a Premier League settlement plus an FA settlement plus a UEFA settlement.“It’s going to be very interesting to see whether other regulators and bodies read the evidence and feel the need to act.”Chelsea were handed a record £10.75million fine and a suspended transfer ban in March for breaching Premier League rules regarding payments to agents.Independent Football Regulator statementThe chair of the Independent Football Regulator, David Kogan has also released a statement regarding City’s case.He stated: “The independent commission’s decision raises serious issues.“The IFR has powers to assess the suitability of owners, directors and executives and we will use these powers where appropriate, in the interests of protecting the sustainability, honesty and integrity of English football where there is clear evidence of wrongdoing by individuals.“This includes taking account of findings made by the leagues. However, as the proceedings remain ongoing between Manchester City and the Premier League we will await further developments.“We hope it can be resolved quickly for the sake of fans. For now, we have no further comment.”