Man City 115 charges: Arsenal accusation emerges in 'big twist behind the scenes'

Boardroom Consultant AUTHORITY Former CEO of Everton, Aston Villa & Aberdeen; 20+ years executive leadership in the Premier League. FOCUS Club governance, commercial strategy, executive recruitment, and high-stakes football negotiation. THE AUDIT Keith utilises Statscore’s Operational Analytics, including Deep-Data Metrics like Commercial Revenue Growth (CRG), Boardroom KPI Weighting, and Strategic Infrastructure ROI. He provides executive-level analysis to reveal the boardroom reality behind club performance that fans rarely see.

Published on:

10 Apr 2025, 1:30 am

Man City have taken aim directly at rivals Arsenal after a new twist in their legal battle with the Premier League.

City succeeded with getting the league's Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules changed after taking legal action but are still unhappy with the regulations.

In a new statement shared with Premier League clubs, they claim the rules "fail to meet the requirements of transparency, objectivity, precision and proportionality and are liable to distort competition".

The Premier League champions are upset as shareholder loans were not subjected to the same scrutiny as other commercial deals that City saw blocked, and list Arsenal, Brighton, Everton and Leicester City as unfairly benefitting from shareholder investment.

Everton's former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – has insisted Man City have a point, but suggested they may have an ulterior motive.

Arsenal received a shareholder loan of £259million in the 2022-23 campaign. (Credit: Imago)

Man City's Arsenal argument 'makes common sense', says Wyness

Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness claimed City's argument "makes common sense" and is a "weak point" for the Premier League's rulebook.

City highlighted Arsenal as receiving a £259million shareholder loan during the 2022-23 campaign, which they say is unfair.

Position	Team	Played	Points	GD
1	Liverpool	31	73	42
2	Arsenal	31	62	30
3	Nottingham Forest	31	57	14
4	Chelsea	31	53	17
5	Newcastle	30	53	13
6	Man City	31	52	17

Premier League table (as of 09/04/2025)

However, Wyness claimed City's new action may be an attempt to get leverage over the Premier League as they await their fate in the 115 charges case.

He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “There’s a couple of factors here - we’re still in limbo over the APT rules, to see whether they were valid.

“This is linked because City have said that it is unfair for them to be punished for taking money from sponsors if other clubs, like Arsenal, take money from their owners.

“To me, it makes common sense. City have a case. This was always the weak point in the argument from the Premier League.

“The bigger picture is City now piling more pressure and leverage on the Premier League ahead of an outcome in the 115 charges case.

“My big hope was for this to be resolved out of court in some way. This seems to me that City are producing more and more cards in a bid to negotiate a settlement.

“That’s what looks to be going on behind the scenes - and what the politics of this point to.”

Gyokeres is a long-term target at Arsenal. (Credit: Hasan Karim, Breaking Media)

Arsenal can fund Gyokeres deal this summer

Meanwhile, Football Insider revealed on 5 April that Arsenal have the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) capacity to agree a deal for Sporting CP star Viktor Gyokeres in the summer transfer window.

Man United are also keen on Gyokeres after he previously played under Ruben Amorim at Sporting.

The striker, who is under contract until 2028, is understood to have a release clause worth around £85million.

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