- This time Man C have gone too far and the rest won’t stand for it
- As we predicted, the war with Man C has gone legal
Since 2008 Manchester City’s commercial revenue has risen by 1,534%. Yes one thousand five hundred and thirty four percent.
From €26 million to €399 million according to Deloitte. In terms of commercial income, it is now just fractionally behind Real Madrid and is poised to overtake them this coming season.
Yet Manchester City have won the Champions League once. Real Madrid have won it 15 times. Real Mad have a stadium almost 40% bigger than Man C and it has taken RM sixty years to get to this point. Manchester C have done it in sixteen years by buying any player they want. After all no one is stopping them. Yet.
True, Everton and Nottingham Forest take points deductions while we are expecting Leicester City to get the same. And Chelsea who have spent more than £1billion since May 2022 will get their comeuppance sometime soon.
But Man City? No – and their profligacy has no worries for them, because the club is owned by royalty. Rather it is the 2025/26 spending limits which links expenditure to income. Previously Man City famously overcame this by having such things as their Official Tractor Sponsor paying large sums for the privilege of influencing the tractor-owning supporters in the stands. And in the next season or two, only Arab-funded clubs will be able to afford to buy top players.
So the City Group will buy all the top players and then loan them to other clubs in the group. The aim is simple: to control the whole transfer market with unlimited funds.
But the great weakness in the City Group’s behaviour is that Man City signed up to abide by the rules of the Premier League. Now they don’t like them, so they are saying the rules are wrong.
But I think most of all the owners are probably feeling miffed that instead of Man C being celebrated by one and all as the winners of six of the last seven seasons, they are now known as being the club charged with 115 breaches of the rulebook and the first-ever club to launch legal action against the Premier League. The image is not just tarnished; it is covered in shit.
From now on, in terms of their history, Manchester City will always be known as the club with 115 charges against them AND the club that took the League to court over the League’s own rules to which it had signed up.
Normally speaking, if an individual or company is charged with something that they are sure they are not guilty of, they want the court to hear the case at once.
But Man City seem to have delayed and obfuscated over and over again. Where is the statement from City expressing frustration or fury that the process is taking so long? There isn’t one because they ar the cause of the ceaseless delays.
And there is another big danger for Man C. The players who have won the trophies with them don’t want their winners’ medals eternally besmirched by allegations. They want it all cleared up too.
But now the case that will forever be known as “115” is utterly associated with the name Manchester City, and it is dragging on and on, while this new case against the League is simply about the club wanting to spend anything they want. It is an utter PR disaster.
So why do it? Well, as the Daily Telegraph writes, and as quoted extensively by Sky Sports, “They will know that dragging the Premier League and their fellow clubs to court does immeasurable damage. Yet it would appear the edict from Abu Dhabi is irresistible.”
As many have observed before, the one thing the mega-rich don’t have is any sense of proportion.
For as the article continues, “Clubs such as Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, who spend what they earn, can see a future in which they simply cannot compete.” And that’s the point, and as Arsenal supporters, I think we should all be immeasurably proud of our club being part of the fight against the M City “buy the trophies” approach.
As for why fight now, well, as the Telegraph says, M City has “a squad to renew over the coming years with Kevin De Bruyne hinting this week at a potential summer departure. Other greats such as Kyle Walker, John Stones and Bernardo Silva are nearer to the end and soon perhaps Pep Guardiola and his sporting director Txiki Begiristain will decide they have done their time. Replacing them will not come cheap, and the commercial deals and renewals that are agreed in the next few years will be critical.”
But now, what sort of company wants to be associated with what Manchester City are becoming? Some who are promoting themselves outside the UK, where a knowledge of the legal claims against the club is not widespread, maybe. But companies trading in the UK? I suspect their view would be “any club but not MC”.
This latest legal action against the League, if it is won, will destroy the League’s reputation and pre-eminence in the football world.
This really is an all-or-nothing moment.
This disgraceful episode can be summed up in 3 points:
As the ownership of Man City is about image & profile (and possibly “sports washing”) The Abu Dhabi ownership cannot allow the Premier League to win the case of the 115 charges. That would completely tarnish their “achievements”.
Having bought their way to & dominated the top tier of English football for the last decade they want to guarantee their position going forward.
The City group is owned & controlled by people who have no notion of democratic voting systems & have always got there own way because of their extreme weath.
This is a far greater threat to English football than a “super leaguge ever was … where’s the outcry from Neville & Caragher?
Ukesox
“This is a far greater threat to English football than a “super league” ever was … where’s the outcry from Neville & Carragher”?
I know. When they were whinging and whining about the Super league I posed similar questions.
What really got me was the pretence that they were outraged on the ‘fans’ behalf!! If that was the case, why indeed weren’t they outraged when the billions of pounds invested by the Oligarchs and sheiks:
-caused ticket prices to go through the roof.
-Caused merchandise prices to go through the roof.
-Caused the necessity for clubs to embrace ‘corporate’ and ‘tourist’ supporters, both of which they ridicule as the ‘prawn sandwich’ brigade.
I’ll tell you why. Because it lined their pockets.
Isn’t it their employer, SKY, that moves matches around all over the place at short notice, without a second thought for how it inconveniences the fans?
They couldn’t give a toss about the fans when the Oligarchs arrived. They never gave a toss about the fans when the Super League was touted. They couldn’t give a toss about the fans when the games are moved around.
Fake, self serving outrage at it’s worst.
@Nitram,
I do find it telling, the silence from all these so-called experts. The gravy train is their motivation.
I’d imagine they’d wish they had been playing now, earning in a month in Saudi Arabia what they earned in a career… wonder if this is really pissing them off.
Just realised, I am rarely seeing a ‘modern’ footballer with a successfull career as talking head…. rather guys in their 50s or 60s… guess the last generation did not need to do it.
Chris
“I’d imagine they’d wish they had been playing now, earning in a month in Saudi Arabia what they earned in a career… wonder if this is really pissing them off.”
Must sting a bit I would imagine.
So the finest legal minds will eviscerate our game. I’ve no doubt that those hearing the case will grant City some measure of a win because there wont be football people involved. It’s time that City were made to face the 115 and dealt with rapidly, withdrawal of all trophies that have been gained as a result of thier malfeasance. The really sad thing is that I doubt the ownership will ever acknowledge any wrongdoing and will appeal endlessly. If they lose they will no doubt set up a league that allows them to do as they please with vast finacial rewards for those who take part and that will ruin our game forever.
But the oilers are fighting back.Those who oppose them The Tyranny of the majority “ are now being slyly labelled as the ‘ Red Cartel’( The historically most successful,namely Man Utd,Liverpool & Arsenal).The oilers fans scream because their clubs are being ostracised.Unfairly treated.Not allowed to compete financially.A closed shop.Hence the cartel slur.
Apparently we( the cartel) don’t like or want the competition.This is their primary defence.They instead want to monopolise.Its their turn they say.And clearly don’t care how they do it.aMoney is the only answer.A quick fix for glory.
And what one day if someone bigger,with deeper pockets come along will they be happy? Think we already know the answer to that one.
The solution & there a very good chance it’s coming.Is mass resignation & an alternative league.Football on this country split in two.