Explanation of City’s case against Premier League

I will endeavor to explain what is happening with Manchester City and their current courtroom battle with the Premier League. City are challenging the Premier League’s financial rules regarding the associated party transaction (ATP). The rules are meant to ensure that commercial deals or player transfers between clubs which are linked through ownership to other […]

I will endeavor to explain what is happening with Manchester City and their current courtroom battle with the Premier League.

City are challenging the Premier League’s financial rules regarding the associated party transaction (ATP). The rules are meant to ensure that commercial deals or player transfers between clubs which are linked through ownership to other companies are conducted at fair market value so that club revenues are not artificially inflated.

If the arbitration panel rules for City and declare the APT rules cannot be applied then clubs would be free to do any commercial deals without independent judgement that they are being done so at fair market values. That could lead to wealthy club owners being able to conduct deals outside of the transfer and wages spending financial sustainability rules.

Rich clubs such as Newcastle and Manchester City would be able to spend much more than smaller clubs which would not be fair argue the Premier League.

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City lawyers claim their club is a victim of discrimination and subjected to a “tyranny of the majority” under current rules. There has to be a 14-club majority vote for any motion to be approved. There have been reports that 10-12 clubs have offered support to the Premier League’s defence case.

It is worth pointing out that this case does not involve the 115 charges over alleged breaking of the financial rules. Those cases will be heard in court at the end of the summer. City are strenuously denying the charges.  

Ten Hag stays at United but with a big if…

The staff at Old Trafford were kept in the quiet about whether or not Erik Ten Hag would stay on as coach. In the end it was Sir Dave Brailsford, Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s No2, who persuaded his boss to give Ten Hag more time in charge. The whole process was handled badly and was embarrassing for the coach. Winning the FA Cup and beating rivals Manchester City saved Ten Hag but of greater importance is the fact that the new owners could not decide who would replace him after meeting several candidates.

I await the announcement of next season’s fixtures In July and in particular United’s first dozen games because if Ten Hag goes on another losing streak he could be gone by December.  

No offers for Bernardo Silva

Surprisingly Manchester City have not received any interest for Bernardo Silva which could be due to his £50million release clause. Bernardo signed a contract extension last year but had hoped to play for Barcelona. The Spanish giants have financial problems and cannot afford to pay the £50million. Pep Guardiola confirmed that City have received no enquiries. He said, “Barca has never called…I hope Bernardo stays, he is a fundamental player for us, a gem of a player and as a person.”  

Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson “seriously” injured ankle

Chelsea face an anxious wait with Nicolas Jackson sustaining a “serious” ankle injury playing for Senegal. Jackson was forced to withdraw last week in Senegal’s 1-1 draw with DR Congo and scans have shown the injury will possibly take weeks if not months to heal. This is the first crisis faced by newly installed coach Enzo Maresca and is an early setback because Jackson scored 14 goals last season and Chelsea are due to start pre-season training at the start of July.  

Eriksen says no to Saudi

Manchester United’s midfielder Christian Eriksen has denied that he will finish his career in Saudi Arabia. He made only 12 starts last season after Kobbie Mainoo impressed and forced his way into the starting line-up. United are accepting bids for the player in the final year of his contract. He said, “I have never received an offer from Saudi Arabia and if my agent has said something, I’ve always said that I don’t even want to know what it is because it’s not something that interests me.”

Transfer news…

*Arsenal, Chelsea and Man United are all disappointed because each of them targeted RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko however he has decided to remain with the German side for next season.

*Tottenham need to clear out players and have dropped Emerson Royal’s price from £25 million to £20 million. AC Milan are in pursuit but hoped the price would be around £15 million. Spur’s will also accept bids for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Bryab Gil, and Giovani Lo Celso.

*Juventus are interested in signing Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz which is both bad news and good news for the midlands club. I am told Villa are close to breaking the £105 million losses over three years rule and whereas the club do not want to lose Luiz they need to bring cash into the club.

*Mason Greenwood, still unwanted at Manchester United, has agreed to join Juventus but the Italian Serie A club are trying to lower the price of £30million.

*Columbian and Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran has instructed his agent to make a deal with Chelsea to enable him to move there this summer. The 20 year-old has scored eight goals in 49 appearances for Villa but has struggled to get into the first team because of the blistering form of Ollie Watkins. Italian club Bologna are also interested and they have qualified for Champions League football next season and their main striker Joshua Zirkzee is reported to be joining AC Milan.

*Newly promoted Ipswich Town are looking at signing Tottenham reject Japhet Tanganga who, at 25 years of age is leaving in a month’s time. Tanganga can play at full-back or in central defence and he impressed on loan at Millwall last season.

Potter of interest to Leicester

Newly promoted back to the Premier League, Leicester City have identified who they want to replace Enzo Maresca who has joined Chelsea. In a merry-go-round situation, former Chelsea boss Graham Potter is top of the Foxes list to replace Maresca. Ex-West Ham coach David Moyes is also of interest. Nottingham, Forest’s sacked coach Steve Cooper is another possibility but Potter is firm favourite. Time is ticking away as the new season approaches and Leicester are concerned that their new man must be in place and ready to take charge with enough time to work with the players before August. Potter has taken things very slowly after leaving Chelsea and recently he has held exploratory talks with Brighton and Ajax which don’t appear to have gone anywhere.

Ratcliffe throws out Fergie’s “all mix together” rule

In a further move to isolate players from Manchester United staff and give them an elite status, Manchester United are banning all personnel not working with the first team from eating in the main canteen at the training ground. They will eat in a separate part of the building which will not include the ‘high performance” food allocated to players. This follows a move which sent the club’s laundry team to another part of the training ground.

This move directly contradicts Sir Alex Ferguson’s rule that everyone mixed together and he said in his autobiography, “I wanted to form a personal link with everybody around the place. All had to believe they were part of the club and a resurgence was coming.” Clearly new part owner Sir James Ratcliffe does not agree.

Vardy aims for one more season

Jamie Vardy is back in the Premier League with his long-time employers Leicester City. The veteran striker, who is 37-years-old, has been given a new one year contract and will begin his 13th season with the Foxes. Vardy said, “My legs feel fine. Age is just a number and I really look after myself.”

Vardy has scored an impressive 136 goals in the top flight, 190 goals overall and needs another nine to move up to 14th place in the all-time Premier League charts. He has played 464 times for Leicester.