Manchester City will not be putting any of their £150 million attacking lineup on the market to prepare for a possible relegation, sources have confirmed.
Manchester City have been dealing with allegations of financial impropriety by the Premier League management body for months now. First, the league management body accused them of breaching 115 charges in relation to its profitability and sustainability rules and the matter was taken to court. Then more charges were added to the 115 and now, the Premier League defending champions are being accused of breaching 130 total charges from 2012 to 2019.
Some of these charges include a failure to declare profits, failure to declare the extent of the deals that some of their staff signed and a failure to declare sponsorship returns.
Every day, the ruling on whether City is guilty of breaching these charges draws near. The punishments that have been touted in the media include a ban from the Premier League for an unspecified number of years, a stripping of all domestic titles won by the club in the same time frame and a massive points deduction that will be spread out access an unspecified number of seasons, starting with the 2024/25 season when the judgement is expected to be reached.
If the Premier League deducts points from the club, they will end up in the EFL Championship, which is the second tier of English club football. There, they will be expected to operate on a much smaller budget which means that they will have to get rid of their highest earners and high-value players.
For this reason, many expect City to take action to ensure that they have the kind of players that the EFL Championship demands. However, the club are deciding to stick with their guns.
Their highest-value lineup is their attack, which is spearheaded by Erling Haaland, one of football’s most valuable players. Sources have claimed that the Cityzens are not willing to part ways with the Norwegian or any of their most valuable assets but will instead be working to sign those who are close to the end of their current contracts to new ones. They have also entered into the January transfer market and are in pole position to land a number of valuable targets.
The first is RC Lens’ Uzbekistan international defender Abdukodir Khusanov for whom they have struck a £33.6 million deal. Reports claim that the deal will be finalised in a couple of days and that the 20-year-old will be their first addition for the winter window. They are also in the market for Omar Marmoush of Eintracht Frankfurt who is rated at £60 million and have also been given a £42 million price tag for Vitor Reis, a young defender currently plying his trade at Brazilian club Palmeiras. Claudio Echeverri will also be joining the club in the coming weeks after Man City and River Plate agreed on a deal to sign him this window last summer.
