After 8 years with countless big and small titles at the Etihad, Pep Guardiola helped Man City gather a squad that made everyone jealous. The Citizens have also accumulated some money to ensure that Guardiola's successor can continue to target the world's top players.
Man City's strong financial position was built on investment from owner Sheikh Mansour, when he took over in 2008. A period of success under Guardiola has since opened up the club's sources of bountiful commercial revenue. It has been further fueled by the Citizens' ability to generate large sums of money through player trafficking.
Man City earned more than £ 140 million in the summer transfer window of 2024 after earning £ 170 million from players who were believed to be in excess.
A year ago, they created £ 125 million and over the past 5 years, there are no less than 11 other Premier League clubs with higher net spending than Man City. The net spending of the Etihad outfit was around £35 million a year during that period.
This means Man City's total profit over the past 2 years is 122 million pounds. These figures will give them a strong position as UEFA's new financial sustainability rules are tightened next year.
Regulations limit transfer spending and wages to 70% of club revenue. Man City's money after winning the treble last year was 712.8 million pounds - a Premier League record.
Man City's revenue will continue to increase next year after the £300 million project to renovate the northern Etihad stands opened for an additional 6,000 seats and increased the stadium's capacity to more than 60,000 people.
Of course, Man City continue to be haunted by the 115 allegations made by the Premier League against them. The main reason is that Man City did not provide accurate financial information in the period of 2009-2018. And if an independent commission maintains its most serious complaints at its meeting in the coming weeks, the punishment will be severe.
Four years ago, when appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Man City had all financial allegations cleared after UEFA banned them from participating in the Champions League for two years. But they were fined £8.5m for failing to cooperate with the initial investigation. And the Premier League has made similar statements.
Man City still insists they have irrefutable evidence to clear the club. Earlier this month, Guardiola stressed the importance of the case being heard by an independent body.
The Citizens' board have yet to give up convincing Guardiola to stay by signing a new contract. Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has been asked by Sheikh Mansour to do everything possible to keep Guardiola until 2025.
But in a new book about Man City's "captain" written by close friend Marti Perarnau, it is affirmed that Guardiola will leave the club when the verdict on Premier League allegations is confirmed.
