What Man City did over the summer is arguably even worse for Arsenal than the 114 charges

New information has emerged regarding Manchester City's 114 breaches of Premier League regulations, and it won't go down well among Arsenal supporters.

The Citizens have officially been found guilty of all charges relating to serious breaches of the English top flight's financial rules over a nine-season period between 2009 and 2018. They reportedly created 'sham' firms to pump fake sponsorship revenue into their accounts, paid players and managers off-the-books to attract them to the club and failed to co-operate with the investigation for five years.

The north-west club await definitive sanctions, while they're also expected to appeal the verdict.

Several clubs are gearing up to take legal action against City, as they seek compensation for damages caused by these breaches. Arsenal, among the clubs most severely impacted by this fraudulent activity, will be even more furious after hearing about what City allegedly did over the summer.

Man City spent over £450 million after discovering guilty verdict

According to Rob Dawson of ESPN, City were first informed that they had been found guilty of virtually all charges relating to breaches of Premier League financial regulations in the summer, before they opted to invest heavily in the transfer market.

Many speculated that this might've been the case, with their hefty spending seemingly coming out of nowhere. However, ESPN now claim to have confirmed this speculation, revealing that sources told the publication that the independent panel made City chiefs aware of the findings in July.

City subsequently spent £125 million on Enzo Fernandez, £116 million on Elliot Anderson, £85.6 million on Ayyoub Bouaddi, £65 million on Iliman Ndiaye and £34 million on Allan Elias. With small signings for a handful of youth players like Jeremy Monga and Mathys Detourbet, their summer spending eclipsed the £450 million mark.

City continue to maintain their innocence, although the Independent panel's official statement makes it harder and harder for them to stand by this position. The panel claims that the Manchester club artificially inflated their revenue's by more than £900 million during the affected period, to appear to comply with financial rules.

This is presumably something the claimant was able to prove in court, and it would seem difficult for City's lawyers to continue to refute this accusation.

Man City's summer spending spree is inexcusable

Dawson's report suggests City knew they had been found guilty before enacting a huge spending spree. That said, ESPN claim the club were informed of the verdict in July, and their agreement with Nottingham Forest for Anderson reportedly came right at the beginning of that month.

However, HandofArsenal revealed on X on Tuesday evening that City were aware that a guilty verdict was coming before they were officially informed. Thus, the signing of Anderson was likely a calculated move made knowing their fate.

This is inexcusable. City knew they were in trouble and responded by deliberately distorting the market by spending way over the odds to bring Anderson to the Etihad. This specific deal set the tone for the rest of the market, massively inflating prices from there on in.

Aston Villa cited this ludicrous deal in their pricing of Morgan Rogers, preventing the Gunners from landing the player for the fee they'd originally planned on paying. This also would've altered Newcastle's price for Guimaraes, among a number of other excessive deals.

Clearly, City's awareness of their guilty verdict prompted them to bring everyone else down with them in this market, making every other side stump up ridiculous fees because they themselves had nothing to lose.

On top of this, they went hell-for-leather to provide Enzo Maresca with a squad that can seriously challenge Arsenal for the title. They were likely aware that potential sanctions might not be implemented until the end of the 2026/27 season or later, so thought they'd reap the rewards of their improriety one final time by destroying the transfer market.

Arsenal have every right to be furious, as do other clubs in the division. If City are able to continue this season and win the title, there'll be riots from the other 19 sides in the division.

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