£1.2bn on transfers with £830m inflated in sponsorships - Man City's 'asterisk era'

Outside Manchester City 's Etihad Stadium is a lustrous silver statue of Sergio Aguero - mouth agape in ecstasy, kit swirling over his head - depicting his goal celebration after securing the club's first Premier League title.

It is the immortalisation of the most famous goal in English league football history, when City snatched the trophy away from Manchester United in the dying seconds of the 2011-12 season.

But what if the goal never happened? What if Aguero had never played for the club? What if City had opted to abide by football's financial rules instead of purposefully breaking them through a "disguised funding scheme"?