Transfer Balls: Manchester City’s £160m for Pogba, Sterling and de Bruyne is not fine with FFP
The Sun says Manchester City manager Manuel Pelligrini will be given a “blank cheque” to make his team Champion League winners. But very quickly into the story that blank cheque features a figure:
…owner Sheikh Mansour is ready to bankroll bids for the likes of Paul Pogba, Kevin de Bruyne and Raheem Sterling — worth £160million.
That’s big money. But how likely is it to happen? Deep into the Sun’s scoop, readers are told:
City are waiting for Uefa to confirm they are free from the Financial Fair Play restrictions that tied their hands last year.
In March 2014, City were fined £49m and given restrictions on spending and squad size for breaking FFP rules. Under FFP clubs cannot repeatedly spend more than their generated revenues.
FFP has this handy guide to how it all works:
Arsenal’s boss Arsene Wenger likes FFP, seeing it as a way to prevent what he calls “financial doping”. But why shouldn’t the Sheikh spend his vast wealth on whatever he likes? He can cover any loses. A rule intended to prevent clubs going bust in a race for glory has prevented a trillionaire from buying into Europe’s elite.
As for complying with what FFP, the Independent has news on how City can cope:
Manchester City are confident that they will comply with Uefa Financial Fair Play regulations this year despite spreading losses from the club’s accounts to subsidiary companies.
City say they have had the structure approved by Uefa, in which two separate companies – City Football Services (CFS) and City Football Marketing (CFM) – have assumed around £25.9m of losses that might otherwise have been on Manchester City’s club accounts. The club announced their most recent financial figures, a combined loss of £23m last month, and as ever these will have to be approved by Uefa in order to receive their license to play in European competition next season.
Clever accounting and a relaxing of FFP rules will help City. But talk of a blank cheque is nonsense.
Posted: 11th, June 2015 | In: Manchester City, Reviews, Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
