In the week that Everton was deducted 10 points in the Premier League because of breaches of financial regulations, plenty asked the question of what precedent that sets for the likes of Manchester City. No side has got as close to Pep Guardiola's team's level other than Liverpool, but it has been charged 115 times by the English top flight.

It remains to be seen what the outcome will be of those accusations. It is likely to be some time before anything is sorted, but Everton's punishment - in the first year for a while that it should stave off relegation despite the points being taken away - has brought the questions around Manchester City back under the spotlight again.

Regardless of any possible wrongdoing, it is clear that the wealth that Guardiola's side has brings with it a major advantage. That has been made clear again this week, too, with Football Insider reporting that a transfer decision has been made before January.

Guardiola, the report says, will allow Kalvin Phillips to depart - either on loan or a permanent transfer - with Newcastle United and West Ham weighing up moves. Signed for $56m (PS45m/EUR51m) from Leeds in the summer transfer window of 2022, Phillips has made only 29 appearances for Manchester City since, for an average of 28 minutes on each occasion he has appeared.

That Guardiola can afford to simply write off a player signed for that sum shows the different financial parameters under which he can operate at a club that has more backing than almost anyone. You have to feel that had it been Liverpool that had signed Phillips, and he had been used in a similarly sparing manner by Jurgen Klopp, there would have been far more scrutiny.

Phillips has maintained his England place but even Gareth Southgate has tried to be clear in the past that players who do not play regularly will not be picked. Still, though, while Phillips has been discarded after a relatively short time at the Etihad Stadium, few appear to be questioning that decision, even though he has never really been given a chance.

Wherever you are in the world - in the US, the UK or further afield - you don't want to miss out.

Darwin Nunez, meanwhile, signed in the same summer as Phillips moved, was constantly under the spotlight - and that remains the case even though the Uruguayan has made a significant impact. He scored 15 times last season: 11 more goals than Phillips made starts in all competitions. He has begun this campaign in a good way as well, yet Liverpool's investment is still being queried by some.

Whether Manchester City is found to have done wrong or not - regardless of what the ultimate outcome is of the 115 charges - it has a major double advantage over the other top sides. For a start, it can afford to make expensive mistakes and take risks on players like Phillips when few others could afford to. And when that goes wrong, it seems few will notice.

Part of that, of course, is that while Phillips has flopped after making the big move, Manchester City has been successful and continues to be so. That, though, says more than anything about its edge over everyone else. When Liverpool gets it wrong, even just once in the transfer market, it plummets down the table. Manchester City would at worst finish second or third.

As the two sides count down the days until they face off on Saturday as the Premier League returns, the gulf in the table since the last time the pair faced one another in Manchester has shrunk by 21 points as a result of the new season beginning and Liverpool recovering some form. The financial disparity, though, remains absolutely clear.