Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has now shared how Manchester City feel about the Financial Fair Play charges.
The respected figure made the comments when speaking on BBC Radio Sussex’s Albion Unlimited podcast.
So, what was said about Manchester City? Let’s take a look…
What’s the story?
Well – if you were not aware – Manchester City found themselves on the end of some charges from the Premier League earlier this year.
After an investigation spanning across four years, the Premier League charged Manchester City with over 100 breaches of Financial Fair Play rules from 2009 to 2018 after claiming to find “a body of irrefutable evidence” from their search.
The Independent claim there are exactly 115 charges in total.
Now, Maguire has shared how those at Manchester City feel about the charges.
He said: “Senior sources tell me City are very, very relaxed about the charges. They feel they have not done anything wrong, that many of the charges are quite trivial and the numbers involved are actually quite low.
“For instance, one of the supposed allegations is about Roberto Mancini, who was supposedly on a contract which was worth – and these are my inverted commas – ‘only’ £1.7m a year to be coach of Manchester City.
“At the same time, it is alleged he had another contract in Abu Dhabi paying him a further £2m to do six days a week. If found guilty, that is only £2m in the context of hundreds of millions.”
By the sounds of it, Manchester City are confident they will win this legal battle.
More from Kieran Maguire on Manchester City
The Brighton & Hove Albion fan spoke more about this situation, conceding that, while the numbers may seem astronomical, they are all within the guidelines as far as Manchester City are concerned.
Maguire added: “City are the first club in English history to have a squad costing more than £1bn. Some of the numbers involved may sound big in isolation, but in terms of pushing City beyond the Financial Fair Play loss targets? I am not sure that would be the case.”
While this update should put some Manchester City fans at ease, it is certainly interesting to hear the Premier League argue that they have “a body of irrefutable evidence” to back up their claims.
Only time will tell what happens for sure.
