Man City legal action: Keith Wyness delivers instant reaction to ‘damaging’ news
Everton and Aston Villa’s former chief Keith Wyness has hit out at “craven and greedy” Man City as they launch new legal action against the Premier League.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 as well as having a two-year spell as Villa chief executive and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – accused the top-flight champions of bringing a “really damaging situation” to English football.
According to The Times (4 June), Man City have launched unprecedented legal action against the Premier League in an attempt to end Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules – which the club claims are unlawful.
Introduced after Newcastle’s takeover in 2021, APT rules attempted to prevent clubs from inflating commercial deals through companies linked with ownership groups.
In addition to the scrapping of these rules, it is claimed that City are seeking damages from the Premier League in a two-week hearing starting next week (10 June).
Wyness hits out at ‘greedy’ Man City as hearing set for next week
Separately, the top-flight champions will also face a hearing over 115 alleged breaches of financial rules starting in 2009.
Wyness told Football Insider: “We’ve got to say a big ‘well done’ to Matt Lawton of The Times, who broke this story.
“That seems to be the only information we’ve got to work on right now.
“The Premier League and the clubs haven’t commented yet, so we’ve only got this as a starting point.
“One thing that struck me immediately was that in the week we’ve seen Rob Burrows pass away, and the moral sporting compass that he had.
“Compare that to this craven, greedy grab from Man City. It stands very starkly together.
“I would hope that a lot of the City fans I grew up with would start to question the direction their club is going in.
“It’s a really damaging situation they’re bringing to the Premier League.
“I just want to stand back and look at it overall, and set the tone. They’re going too far.”
In other news, Man City “won’t stand in the way” of star man completing shock move.
For more Man City news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.