Manchester City face an anxious wait to discover if they will be hit with a transfer ban for allegedly breaching rules around the signing of a teenage player until a verdict in the controversial Benjamin Garre case is finally delivered within the next week.

Pep Guardiola is hoping to add at least three more players to his squad this summer as City bid to build on their exceptional title success by creating a dynasty.

But their transfer plans could be threatened if the Court of Arbitration for Sport rules in favour of Vélez Sarsfield, an Argentine club who claim City acted unethically by approaching Garre when was still 15 and flouted transfer rules by signing the attacking midfielder days after his 16th birthday.

If CAS sides with Vélez, the Premier League champions face the prospect of being banned from registering players for the next two transfer windows, the standard penalty in such cases.

Fifa had upheld City’s argument that Garre was free to join them after his 16th birthday because he holds an Italian passport but Vélez alleged that Fifa rules only allow players under 18 to move between clubs in European countries. Vélez also took the world governing body to CAS after they rejected an initial complaint from the South American club in September 2016. City believe they acted within the rules and have always felt they were on strong ground given that Fifa ratified the transfer.