‘That’s completely ridiculous’ – Man City have spent ‘£25m’ on 115 charges case
Manchester City and the Premier League are each likely to have spent around £25million in legal fees in the club’s 115 charges case.
Man City were dealt the charges by the Premier League in February 2023 for allegedly breaching the financial fair play (FFP) rules over a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018.
They are alleged to have concealed payments through third parties by disguising them as sponsorship revenue.
An independent commission hearing started in September last year and ended in December, with the panel still considering its verdict.
There has so far been little information provided about when the decision could be revealed, leading to concerns among Premier League clubs about how long the case could drag on.
The Times reported on 5 August senior figures in football have been told the cost to both sides of the Premier League’s case against Man City may have topped £200million over the past five years.
Premier League’s legal bill has surged after Man City 115 charges case
This article contains exclusive comment from Stefan Borson, a former financial adviser to Man City.
The Premier League has also been embroiled in a legal dispute with Man City over the associated party transaction (APT) rules alongside the 115 charges case.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson said: “Well, it won’t be £200million.
“That’s completely ridiculous, but it is significant. There are big question marks over the overall legal spend at the Premier League.
“I did a piece analysing the last few years of their operating expenses, which include the legal costs, and they’re very significant.
“They have grown aggressively over the last few years, so I think it is true that there’s been big legal spend since kind of two or three years ago. I think sort of before Covid, it was fairly modest, and it seems to have gone crazy in the period after.
“But then again, the organisation is growing. They are doing more things in house. On top of that, they have got all of these cases.
“There’s no way the City case is £200million, but obviously it will be very significant. I would think the total costs would be something like maybe £20-25million on each side. I don’t think there’ll be a big discrepancy.
“What we’ve seen previously is the Premier League have been outspending the clubs by a lot, so their fees have been much bigger than the clubs.
“They have struggled to recover those fees from Everton and Nottingham Forest, even though they obviously won the cases.
“What’s happened is when they’ve gone to the independent commissions to try and reclaim their costs, the independent commissions have effectively said you’re spending too much, you’re over complicating these cases, and you need to not necessarily use cheaper lawyers but we’re not asking Everton and Nottingham Forest to pay for your very expensive lawyers.”
Man City make Ilkay Gundogan transfer decision
In terms of transfer activity, Football Insider revealed on 9 August Man City plan to keep Ilkay Gundogan despite speculation surrounding a possible move to Galatasaray.
Pep Guardiola is reluctant to let the veteran midfielder go before the window closes, with his experience providing a valuable asset to a new-look squad at the Etihad Stadium.
Galatasaray were believed to be plotting a move to sign Gundogan as part of their spending spree this summer.
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