Man City tipped to be ‘wound up’ after FFP ‘private prosecutions’ with Haaland to Forest mooted
Man City may face being ‘wound up’ following ‘private prosecutions’, while an ‘amusing’ alternative ‘solution’ could spark Erling Haland to Nottm Forest.
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The actual ‘largest’ Man City FFP impact…
With a nod to all caveats, I still think everyone is missing the point if City are found to be guilty. You have outlined five punishments, but the largest impact will actually be the private prosecutions, which I believe the right to which have been reserved by Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal. United are the most obvious in terms of need for money, so the loss of prize money, sponsorship and commercial opportunities will be one they will be keen to address in terms of titles and cups. Liverpool and Arsenal will not be shy in seeking redress, either, and then we turn to the European clubs that have been disadvantaged.
I have argued this before, but this may be existential for City as a club. Without the ability to meet judgements against them unless the owners put in the money (which they are not allowed to do), the club simply cannot afford this – the club will have to be wound up. As I understand it, the decision from the panel cannot be appealed, so no amount of lawyers can tie up the initial outcome. As that will be relied upon in any case, it’s going to be difficult to tie up in the courts as there is not anything that can be realistically challenged.
Will it happen? My guess is that the government will step in and find a way so as not to lose the revenue and engagement of the UAE at this time, but this could well mean the end of the club.
Nick
An ‘amusing’ FFP ‘solution’…
Regarding sanctions for City, there is a simple, fair and amusing solution.
We simply need a redistribution of all their players. Take every team that has been in the premier league alongside them over the offending years and they take turns to pick a player from the squad or academy. There’s probably about 25 or so teams and so with the first team squad and academy each club will likely get one player from the squad and 1 or 2 from the academy.
I’m not sure who gets to pick first, maybe the teams who lost the most points to City over the offending years. Hence, a club like Forest or Norwich may be first in line to pick up Haaland or Foden on a free with a mandatory 3 year contract with City to foot a portion of the salary to ensure players don’t break their new clubs wage structure.
Once all these players are gone, City can carry on their life in non-league and no doubt work their way back to the premier league in the same way Rangers had to do north of the border not long ago.
Job done, no need to thank me.
Jon, Cape Town
MAN CITY FFP NONSENSE ON F365…
👉 Man City FFP: Transfer targets for expelled Premier League champions in League Two
👉 Guardiola next job options after relegation would include Arsenal, Brazil and Al Nassr
👉 Man City FFP: Guardiola’s 28-man squad ranked on post-relegation exit likelihood with verdict looming
If A, LFC, Montreal (in the AM mailbox on 26th) wants to be a pedant, at least have a point worth making. To quote him directly, “Unlawfully implies criminality, and City, and their employees, are not subject to anything like criminal proceedings. Rules may have been broken. It’s very different to laws being broken, and this should be clear in the way it is written about.”
The Wikipedia page on law begins: “Law is a set of rules that are created…”
The OED page on law begins: ” The body of rules, whether customary or formally enacted…”
It seems, contrary to what A believes, that law and rules are not very different but are in fact intertwined. City has broken rules, ergo City has broken the laws that govern the competition(s) they enter. Therefore, they acted unlawfully (in the scope of the football competition(s) they entered). Obviously, I mean potentially, as no judgements have yet been passed.
Colin (equally as pedantic, somewhere in Kent)
Wow
So Trent is gone – Not hateful words here. I don’t blame the lad at all. I’m far too old to not be sensible about a young lad achieving his dreams.
Good luck in the Sunshine with what is sadly, unarguably, the biggest club in the world, Trent – But I do hope you repeat Michael’s 1st season and watch us lift the CL. (Not sure that’s happening next year though!) Coz Changes!
It seems like Virgil is more go than stay suddenly. Mo is 50/50 at best, I guess. Darwin is gone. Much talk about selling Lucho and Jota too.. (the Jota stuff seemed to have calmed down a bit).
That’s half of the starting 1st team almost. So we need 3 new attackers (the most expensive part of the pitch to purchase). We need cover at centre-back (before Virgil was leaving) and possibly to replace Virgil. We need help/cover for Gravenberch as he can’t play every minute. We need cover at right-back for Bradley (we hope he isn’t the Jordan Ibe/Sterling – yes I felt that too, Mark – though I think he’s proved already he’s not that).
READ: FSG Out? Seven Liverpool mistakes include Alexander-Arnold and the European Super League
So we need 7 news players at least?
Let’s make the most of the title win (that isn’t won yet, just to be clear!) as it might be a while before we win anything else…
I feel next year might be more like the year we thought this one would be!
No complaints, though, as I didn’t expect to win the league this year (obviously) or next, really.
The very best of Luck, Arne. You are going to need it, mate!
Al – LFC – Question – Who would you rather have Harry ‘proved at every level for 1200 yrs Kane, but old and 100mil’ or 1 season stand out striker Isak, who is young and might never hit these heights again, or might be the real deal for 150mil?
Backlash to the backlash to the backlash…
I don’t disagree too much with either of Ziggy or Aman’s fundamental points (although I’d suggest to Aman that there is a difference between a player signed from overseas leaving for a world record fee and a player from the club’s academy, a self-described “fan living his dream” leaving on a free transfer.
Also, I don’t think David Beckham is particularly well-regarded at Manchester United following his departure?) We do seem to expect a lot more commitment to their employers from our footballers than we do of any other people in any other walk of life.
And it does seem to me a little odd that people will simultaneously decry Trent for his lack of loyalty, and then demonstrate similar lack of loyalty to other players. (I enjoy The Anfield Wrap, and they’re on balance more mature about this than many “content creators,” but they did have a podcast yesterday, the award-winning Gutter, where they did an immediate pivot from decrying Trent’s perfidy to which players we should get in to replace Andy Robertson, who can’t cut it any more, apparently.)
It’s not my business to tell people how to feel about a player leaving a club. But it’s a bit weird to even think that one’s opinions about another person’s career choices have any validity whatsoever.
Dara O’Reilly, London
READ: Alexander-Arnold can escape Liverpool ‘buts’ with a move to his ‘spiritual home’
Jamie Carragher ‘should shut up’
TLDR: Retired footballers should please shut up and let the current generation of footballers be. We get it. Football is rubbish right now. But let the kids (and not-so-kids) be. Jamie Carragher, I’m looking at you.
Full rant:
It’s probably as old as time itself: retired footballers commenting on the current state of the game. The problem is that a lot of the comments they make them seem out of touch, jealous, or even downright petty.
So a retired footballer makes a comment about a literal child playing for a nation his (the retired footballer, that is) national team is about to play for. The child’s team wins, partly due to the child’s very good performance. The child says some really childish snarky gen alpha stuff, and the retired footballer (who is almost old enough to be the child’s father) is surprised that the child did not decide to be the bigger man. I mean. I’m early Gen Y/millenial. I’m not sure I want to get into an online fight with someone from Gen Z. I know I don’t have the tools. I don’t spend much time online. And unless I have a megaphone like some billionaires/influencers do to be able to shout them down. So it’s almost idiotic that I would decide to pick a fit with someone from an even younger generation who almost certainly has more online clout than I do. I may be right. But I’ll never win that fight.
And then we have Jamie Carragher. I don’t know why before the last 12 or so months I always assumed he was a reasonable person. Not anymore. From insisting an injured player did not play because he was scared of an opponent because he (JC, that is) would have played through the pain. Well, it wasn’t you, and he didn’t. You then decide to deride your former team’s best player’s continental tournament because it’s from a different continent and not one you ever played in. I mean, even if it’s not as “prestigious” as your continental trophy, it doesn’t fall within the current Ballon d’Or season. It starts at the end of the year. December 2025. The awards (if history is any guide) would be given in October 2025.
And then, TAA. Does he really think that TAA has a greater shot at glory with Liverpool? There are probably only 5 teams in the top 5 European leagues that you are guaranteed to win a major trophy at least 3 times in 5 years. 2 are in Spain, 1 is in Germany, 1 is in France, and the English one is not LFC, even if it’s means more. I’m a Barça fan and even I am still worried that Madrid may win the UCL because, well, it’s Madrid. Why won’t TAA find that attractive?
Capello seems to be either harboring a personal grudge with Guardiola, or is Jealous. Keane is unhappy that current footballers are not going out of their way to end their opponents’ careers. Ronaldinho quit being a brazil fan because no one is as great a ball juggler as he was (but outside Jay-Jay, who was?).
I mean, footballers actually have to come out and deny that they smoke ganja these days.
Bolo Gona (Thanks if you made it to the end) Abuja, Nigeria
