Stefan Borson: This is how much Man City may have spent on legal battle vs Premier League
Manchester City spent millions on legal fees in their recent battle against the Premier League over the associated party transaction (APT) rules.
Man City successfully challenged the APT rules following a two-week private arbitration hearing in the summer of 2024, with the tribunal ruling the regulations in place were unlawful last October.
Following amendments by the Premier League, Pep Guardiola’s side challenged the APT rules again in February this year.
However, Man City have now reached a settlement with the Premier League, while the club are expected to complete a lucrative deal with Etihad Airways as a result.
Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider he doesn’t believe the recent reports around how much each party has spent on legal fees is “very credible”.
Finance expert disputes £20m Man City claim
The Times reported on 19 September the legal bill in Man City’s case against the Premier League could be as much as £20m for each party.
Meanwhile, it has been suggested the overall costs of Man City’s case could spark fury among their fellow top-flight sides.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson said: “The Times said it was £20m each, which I don’t think that’s very credible.
“I’ve heard all sorts of rumours about the scale of the fees, certainly on the City side, but also on the Premier League side because when you look in the accounts, you can see that there are some very big payments that have been made over time by the Premier League.
“Look, it’s not impossible, but I just don’t think £20m is the right number for the APT one. APT to me is something that it’s hard to see how it would cost much more than say £2-3m on each side just because of the nature of that kind of thing.”
It has previously been revealed the Premier League has paid out “enormous” fees after taking legal action against multiple clubs over the past couple of years.
Man City debate rumbles on over APT legal fees
The debate over how much Man City and the Premier League have spent in their APT case is likely to rumble on until any official figures are revealed.
Borson said: “It’s not going to be document heavy. It would largely have been about the submissions of the barristers around the law with some fairly agreed upon facts about the sort of backdrop.
“There’s a little bit of dispute as to how it came about, APT and the relevance of that, but I can’t see that that would have been something that would have turned into £20m on each side’s disclosure exercise, so I don’t really buy that.
“I think it’s much more likely to be a more manageable level of fees.”
Meanwhile, Man City are waiting to hear the verdict in their 115 charges case, with the independent panel still considering its verdict.
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