After Arsenal’s loss against Nottingham Forest, Manchester City were crowned Premier League champions for the third consecutive year. This comes after allegations were made earlier this season about the illegal nature with which the club conducted business in recent years. Over 100 allegations were made, and at the time, it looked like City might actually be penalised for its wrongdoings.
Fast forward to the end of the season, and somehow, people seemed to forget about it due to the length of time it takes to investigate these allegations and were just amazed by the football on display. Now this is not us saying that City cheated and shouldn’t be allowed to win the league; we are exploring a sentiment that was brought to light after the people who accused the club of cheating handed them the Premier League title on Sunday.
2023 Premier League Season
During the season’s curtain raiser, Liverpool rocked Manchester City at Wembley to win the FA Community Shield. People were quick to point out that Haaland underperformed and that City looked like a fragile team, whilst Liverpool and new record signing Darwin Nunez looked on it. Fortunately, for Man City, the Premier League is long, a lot can happen, and that is what exactly happened. After the FIFA World Cup, in around January/February, reports started to circulate that the FA are investigating Man City’s books for financial wrongdoings dating back to 2009.
The initial red flag was raised by Der Spiegel, a German outlet that reported a four-part exposé of Man City’s manipulative dealings. We all know that in 2008, the club was bought by the Abu Dhabi family, which has transformed the club from mid-table afterthought to state-owned juggernaut. The issue is with the process, FFP regulations state that you should not be spending more than you are earning, so the simple thing to do is to inflate your earnings so you can spend more. That is what Man City are accused of doing: inflating sponsorship deals.
When officials at the club are asked about these matters, they shrug these allegations off as petty jealousy due to how well the club is doing. This was clear to see when the UEFA found Man City guilty of ‘serious breaches’ and banned City from the Champions League for two seasons. The club then took UEFA to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and won.
In no way are we saying that City are guilty of what they are being accused of, we do not have any capacity to do so, but doubts start setting in. The FFP rules look to be in place for certain clubs but seem to be enforced for others, which is not fair. A good way to look at this is when comparing the FFP rules to the rules and regulations in Formula 1, there are certain restrictions on certain parts, how much they should weight, the ride height, and so much more, but then technicians try and find a way to push the envelope but stay within the said parameters.
Squad depth
Pep Guardiola has been a manager of Manchester City since the season of 2016/17, spending just over a £1 billion on new players in the transfer market. The biggest outlay was for Jack Grealish to bring him over from Aston Villa, valued at £100M, with Aymeric Laporte (£57M), Riyadh Mahrez (£60M), Rodri (£62M), Ruben Dias (£60M) and Erling Haaland (£52M). The net spend sits at just above £478 million, whilst Manchester United’s sits at £835 million and are yet to assemble a squad capable of troubling the pinnacle of the Premier League.
This year, we saw a very interesting tactical switch from Pep Guardiola, as we saw from Liverpool’s Alexander Arnold and the ex-City, now Arsenal’s Ukrainian Alexander Zinchenko inverted full-backs, John Stones’ move into the midfield goes in line with that ideology. When the English defender was bought from Everton, he was considered to be a flop, not impressing the personnel at the Etihad, but through his work with Pep Guardiola, he developed his game and proved to be pivotal in the title-winning squad of 2018/19 and 2021/22. Psychology and the way that players see themselves on the pitch has a greater effect on play than we have come to believe, and the Spanish coach knows exactly what to do to tap into his player’s minds.
This continues with the argument of money spending, compared to other clubs, especially now Chelsea, their spending has not been as astronomical, yet with wise recruitment, they managed to build a team capable of possibly doing the treble. The manager played a big role in all of this, arguably one of the biggest factors that players look forward to, being coached by the great Pep Guardiola. A side note on this, Erling Haaland, who’s the last signing for City, has a clause in his contract that he can move for a reduced release clause should Pep Guardiola no longer be the manager.
Looking ahead
The FA’s investigation took around four years to compile a sizeable idea of what Man City did, but since they are drowned by paperwork and procedures, it will surely not be settled in the coming weeks. The severity of the accusations are unprecedented, and it will be the first time a team that has won the league title three-years in a row to have it’s integrity questioned. As we saw in Italy, where Juventus were docked 10-points, there was quick action earlier in the season when the initial decision was to deduct 15 points but that decision was eventually overturned. The Premier League cannot risk dishing out punishment and later having to overturn it, the punishment has to be one and done, should they find the club guilty of any wrongdoings.