Man City: knew of 114 financial rule breaches before its huge summer spending

Manchester City would have been told since summer that it was responsible for 114 breaches of Premier League financial rules, according to ESPN, right ahead of a spending spree in the transfer window. A few days after multiple outlets reported the issue, the Premier League confirmed this Tuesday that City committed serious violations between 2009 and 2018, hiding “more than €1 billion” in checks.

Spending anyway

The club denies it. It also claims the board already knew about the matter “from the start of the summer”. Even so, City went on an offensive market, signing seven high-profile players for over £450m (more than €525m), including Enzo Fernández and Elliot Anderson as the two most expensive arrivals, plus Ayyoub Bouaddi.

Appeal and possible penalties

City says it is “surprised and disappointed” and will appeal before the Oct 2 deadline. In its statement, it argues the ruling has “manifest material errors” on legal principles and facts, and adds that important elements have not yet been reviewed by the Premier League.

A sanction still hasn’t been scheduled. The range includes financial penalties, a ban on recruitment, points deduction with relegation risk, or even exclusion from the competition. City’s current ownership dates back to 2008, when Sheikh Mansour ben Zayed Al Nahyan took over.