Chelsea fans have reacted by poking fun at Manchester City's alleged multiple financial breaches, with many wanting City manager Pep Guardiola to replace struggling Graham Potter at Stamford Bridge.
After suffering a 1-0 defeat last night (February 5) against Spurs, Manchester City were further rocked earlier today after being charged with dozens of breaches of financial rules, with the total number being reported to be allegedly over 100.
Since Manchester City were acquired by Sheikh Mansour and the Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008, they have spent over 2.25 billion euros on players.
Manchester City are alleged to have breached multiple league rules, including the following:
- Failing to share the manager's remuneration from the 2009/10 to 2012/13 season.
- Not sharing full details of the player's remuneration in relevant contracts between the 2010/11 to 2015/16 seasons.
- Not complying with UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations between 2013/14 and 2017/18.
- Withholding revenue generated from sponsors.
Chelsea will undoubtedly also be keen for all this to blow over after the January transfer window they just had. Run by American businessman Todd Boehly, the Blues have struggled this season under Graham Potter. With a lack of goals and consistency, they have found themselves stuck in midtable, 15 points behind Manchester City.
Chelsea went all out, spending an estimated £323 million to bring in eight new faces, including star players £106.7 million Enzo Fernandez on transfer deadline day, and Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid. They even managed to pull off a heist on title challengers Arsenal by securing the signature of Mykhailo Mudryk for £88 million. Other players include Benoit Badiashile and Noni Madueke.
No club in European football, including Manchester City, came close to spending as much as the Blues. Many eyebrows were raised at their incredulous free-spending, as well as their questionable legitimacy.
Pep Guardiola is one of the best managers in the world and will very likely bring trophies back to Stamford Bridge. The Blue Army would enjoy this prospect, here are some reactions from Twitter:
Chelsea to potentially sign Brighton's Kaoru Mitoma
Despite Chelsea bringing in eight new players during the January transfer window, their plans for the upcoming window are already starting to take place. Former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore has backed Chelsea to sign Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma in the summer transfer window.
The Japanese international has been in sensational form since the arrival of Roberto De Zerbi, scoring 5 goals in 15 appearances in the Premier League. He notably scored the winner against Liverpool to knock them out of the FA Cup in a 2-1 victory.
His form hasn't gone unnoticed, with Collymore writing on CaughtOffside:
“Obviously, his ability is there for all to see so I’d be amazed if, come the end of the season, some of the bigger teams weren’t making offers for him."
“He isn’t going to command a huge fee. He’ll have two years left on his deal and he was bought for virtually nothing, so from a commercial point of view, even a £30m offer, which would be over a 500 per cent return on investment in just 12 months, would be too good for Brighton to turn down."
He added:
“And, as we all know, that kind of deal is something Chelsea’s new owner would lick his lips at.”