What would've happened at Arsenal 2009-2014 if Man City didn't break the rules

Manchester City have been found guilty on 114 of 115 charges relating to breaches of Premier League regulations, and several clubs, including Arsenal, have therefore been left wondering what might have been had the rules been followed.

Numerous clubs are now planning legal action against City following this guilty verdict. Teams have been relegated, missed out on Champions League football, titles and cups because of the unfair advantage the Citizens have gained from being able to attract players and managers they shouldn't have.

With that said, here's a look at what might've happened at Arsenal each season between 2009 and 2014, had City followed the rules. It's entirely guesswork, and there's a lot of projecting and assuming, but here's how the seasons could've entailed for the Gunners.

2009/10

Real finish: 3rd
Probable finish without City charges: 3rd

City allegedly began breaching Premier League regulations in 2009. Their impropriety therefore started to affect the English top flight from the start of the 2009/10 season.

The north-west club parted ways with Mark Hughes midway through this campaign, appointing esteemed manager Roberto Mancini as the Welshman's successor. It's been reported that City, who hadn't finished in the top division's top four since 1978 at this point, attracted the Italian head coach by offering him a lucrative off-book payment (via the Guardian).

The Emirati ownership arrived at the Etihad in 2008, inheriting Hughes as their manager. Despite the new funds, few high-profile managers had shown an interest in taking charge at City before Mancini's abrupt arrival. This was therefore one of the first major moves the Manchester club made that changed their trajectory.

However, the impact on Arsenal predated Mancini's arrival. In the summer of 2009, City took Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure from the Gunners, offering both players lucrative contracts which the Gunners couldn't match, as Arsene Wenger's club went through a period of austerity following their move to the Emirates.

City hadn't finished above Arsenal in modern times before these signings, and thus, it's fair to suggest that these players' departures were prompted by the finances and weren't based on sporting potential.

Arsenal still managed to finish comfortably ahead of City, who narrowly missed out on a place in the top four. A late collapse saw Wenger's side miss out on the title, which was won by Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea, who were pushed to the wire by Manchester United.

The Gunners probably weren't quite good enough to win the title that season, and it's hard to argue that even with Adebayor and Toure at their disposal, they'd have pushed Chelsea to the brink. That said, they'd certainly have come a lot closer than the 11 points off top they eventually finished.

Robin Van Persie and Eduardo spent much of this season on the sidelines, meaning Wenger had to call upon Nicklas Bendtner more often than he'd have liked. This would certainly have been mitigated by Adebayor's presence. The Togolese striker finished the campaign with 14 Premier League goals in 26 appearances, more than any of Arsenal's forwards.

It's also worth noting that City knocked Arsenal out of the League Cup in the fifth round, with summer signing Carlos Tevez (who they miraculously landed from Manchester United) breaking the deadlock. Without their financial misdemenours, the Gunners might have found themselves in the last four of the cup competition.

2010/11

Real finish: 4th
Probable finish without City charges: 2nd

2010/11 was the first season City finished above Arsenal after the takeover. Mancini's outfit narrowly pipped the Gunners to 3rd place, finshing three points ahead of Wenger's side.

For a large portion of this season, Arsenal had the nucleus of an excellent side. Van Persie finished the season on fire, Samir Nasri shone, and Cesc Fabregas was mesmeric. However, once again they were burned by lacking a credible support act for Van Persie.

In the first half of the campaign, Maraune Chamakh played the majority of the minutes up front as the Dutchman nursed multiple injuries. This undoubtedly cost Arsenal some points, which they, once again, likely wouldn't have dropped had Adebayor been there to fill in for Van Persie.

On the other hand, City, bouyed by the summer arrivals of Yaya Toure, David Silva, Mario Balotelli, Edin Dzeko and James Milner, made progress under Mancini. They weren't quite in the midst of the title hunt, but they qualified for the Champions League for the first time in the Sheikh Mansour era.

Remarkably, they attracted all these top-class, high-profile stars without being able to offer Europe's elite competition. Had they not been able to, and had Arsenal not lost Adebayor, it's fair to suggest the Gunners would've finished ahead of them.

Chelsea finished second, level on points with City. It would be reasonable to assume Arsenal could've made up an extra four points and finished above the Blues, although the West Londonders were probably also undone by City's wrongdoings.

2011/12

Real finish: 3rd
Probable finish without City charges: 2nd

Once again, Arsenal's financial restrictions and City's abundance of resources came into effect in the summer of 2011. The two teams approached the summer on a relatively level playing field in terms of squad strength and competitiveness. This changed dramatically over the course of the transfer window.

Arsenal were forced to sanction Nasri's exit to the Etihad, significantly weakening their attack and strengthening City's. Gael Clichy also made the move to the north-west, while Fabregas left for Barcelona.

Wenger's squad was battered and bruised, and had it not been for a 37-goal Van Persie season, they likely would've fallen out of the top four. The North Londoners scraped a 3rd-place finish on 70 points, a point above Tottenham, who missed out on Champions League qualification as Chelsea won the competition.

Meanwhile, City pipped Manchester United to the title, courtesy of Sergio Aguero's historic late winner against Queens Park Rangers on the final day. Major new signings like the Argentine, Nasri, Clichy and Stefan Savic played major roles in this title triumph.

Without these deals, along with the groundwork they'd laid in the previous two years, there's next to no chance City would've emerged with the title. Rising from mid-table mediocrity to beating Sir Alex Ferguson's juggernaut side to the league title in the space of three years doesn't seem realistic without some level of impropriety.

They'd attained the talent to win this title by completely overhauling their squad with a Galactico manager and several superstar players, spending huge amounts of money, despite their global brand being on par with clubs in the mid-table (hence a likely lack of significant revenue).

As they had two years prior, the Gunners were knocked out of the League Cup by City at the quarter-final stage, courtesy of an Aguero strike.

2012/13

Real finish: 4th
Probable finish without City charges: 2nd

For the third summer in four, Arsenal were forced to cash in on major assets in 2012. Van Persie, the club's talisman and best player by a country mile, left for United, while Alex Song departed for Barcelona.

These sales cannot be blamed on City, and were more a result of Arsenal's need to generate funds as they continued to pay off stadium debts, but the Citizens benefited from the Gunners' austerity for many years when they had no right to.

Having already assembled a strong squad that had won a title, City were more modest in their transfer dealings in 2012. Jack Rodwell, Scott Sinclair, Maicon, Matija Nastasic and Javi Garcia arrived to bulk out the squad and boost their chances of finally reaching the latter stages of the Champions League.

This approach failed as they finished 2nd, eleven points behind United, and were dumped out of Europe in the group stage.

As for Arsenal, Wenger's outfit struggled in the post-Van Persie era, although they did ultimately manage to finish just a couple of points behind Chelsea in third. Had they still had Nasri and Clichy, they might've found a way to trump the Blues, meaning a second-place finish would've been on the cards.

2013/14

Real finish: 4th
Probable finish without City charges: 3rd

Arsenal's economic limitations persisted into the 2013/14 season. The Gunners added Mesut Ozil to their squad, but left themselves short on options in a number of other positions.

Wenger's side were top of the league in February, but their lack of depth meant they couldn't cope physically, and their form fell off a cliff in the final months of the season, eventually landing them a fourth-place finish.

Meanwhile, after a disappointing 2012/13 campaign, City went big to rectify their mistakes of the previous summer. Fernandinho, Jesus Navas, Alvaro Negredo, Stefan Jovetic and Martin Demichelis all arrived, providing new manager Manuel Pellegrini with a huge squad that was able to deal with the increasingly congested fixture schedule.

These signings also took City's spending over a five-year period to unprecedented levels. They subsequently won the title, and although Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool put up a fight, City's triumph always felt inevitable.

Without City flexing their dubious financial muscle, Arsenal might've finished a place higher, although Chelsea and Liverpool still would've had too much for them.

Conclusion

Part two of this will be coming, detailing the years when things got a lot worse for Arsenal. Up until 2014, however, City's rule-breaking didn't cost the Gunners Champions League football or a title, but merely made their seasons a little less fun.

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