Sheffield United will learn if their European hopes have been boosted BEFORE the end of the season

United were seventh in the Premier League table - only five points behind fourth-placed Chelsea with 10 matches remaining - when the fixture schedule was suspended 10 weeks ago because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In February, the adjudicatory chamber of UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) declared City had committed “serious breaches” of financial fair play regulations after being found guilty of overstating sponsorship revenues in accounts submitted over a four year period between 2012 and 2016.

Although City are attempting to overturn the CFCB’s ruling, if it is upheld then Manchester United would find themselves in the final qualification berth. They are only two points ahead of Chris Wilder’s side, having played a game more than their namesakes from South Yorkshire.

United, who were promoted from the Championship last season, returned to small scale training at the Steelphalt Academy yesterday as top-flight teams prepare for a possible return to action on June 12.

CAS will begin studying the evidence it has been presented with four days earlier, with its judgement expected to be announced in July.

Earlier this term, United refused to take part in a joint-action organised by a number of England’s leading teams aimed at denying City a place in the Champions League if they attempted to ‘stay’ their punishment. Although that is no longer an issue, given the disruption caused by Covid-19, their decision to focus on football rather than politics has been noted by officials at the Etihad Stadium.

City, who are second, vehemently deny any wrongdoing and issued a statement accusing UEFA of overseeing a “flawed and consistently leaked” process when the CFCB delivered its findings.

Speaking at the confederation’s annual congress in Amsterdam a month later, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin insisted he had faith in the way the matter had been handled, saying: "As a lawyer I respect the system. We have the investigatory chamber and the adjudicatory chamber and at the end we have CAS in Lausanne.

"For some administrators it's a problem if you have an independent body. For me it's a privilege.

"I have not spoken with any of the members (of the CFCB chambers) before or after (the decision) and didn't see the case, before or after. As much as I've seen now, Manchester City have gone to CAS and let's wait for the decision."

In the last 50 years, only seven teams have secured a top four finish a season after climbing out of the second tier, including Nottingham Forest, Watford and United’s neighbours Sheffield Wednesday.

Wilder’s men had also reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, which provides a route into the Europa League, when the season was mothballed in March.

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