Independent panel found City guilty on 114 of 115 charges
This is the story that will not go away. An independent Premier League panel found Manchester City guilty of 114 of the 115 charges of breaching the league's financial rules (1). Nothing in European football is moving the news cycle more while the international break runs (1).
Mundo Deportivo is calling it the football story of the year, and it frames the whole thing as City against the English clubs, their league and FIFA (4). Your team sits top of the table on 15 points from five games, five wins from five. Off the pitch, this is the fight.
Marsch wants City relegated
Jesse Marsch did not hedge. The former Leeds United manager says City should get the harshest punishment if they are found guilty of breaching financial rules, including relegation from the Premier League (5).
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His line, in his own words: "Mislim da bi City trebao biti oštro kažnjen i izbačen u niži rang, iako su svi već odavno znali šta se dešava" (2). And he is not vague about why. Marsch says when City's reported €60m fee for Erling Haaland was published, he laughed: "Kada su objavili tu cifru, samo sam se nasmijao, jer je svima bilo jasno da on u tom trenutku vrijedi barem 150 miliona eura" (2).
He also names Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha when he talks about deals he says everyone in England knew about (2) (5).
Enzo Fernandez is a City player now
City signed Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea for €146 million (3). The deal lands after the English window closed, and it is the kind of midfield money that reshapes a squad.
Chelsea's window was described as complete chaos from their side, and City walked out of it with the midfielder (3).
Soriano's road to the Etihad
Ferran Soriano went from the Barcelona board to running Manchester City, and the route is being retold now that the club's case dominates the news (4). The Barcelona names in that story are Joan Laporta and Oriol Giralt (4).
Next up: Liverpool at Anfield
Sunday, October 11, 17:30 CEST. City go to Liverpool off five straight wins. Then Paris Saint-Germain at home in the Champions League on Wednesday, October 14, and Ipswich Town at home on Saturday, October 17.
Fan reactions
The mood is split. One thread from the Arsenal side is asking whether financial rules exist to limit clubs or to protect the Premier League's established order, and plenty of City fans are pushing back on the same question in their own spaces (https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunners/comments/1wxu5a2/is_psr_about_limiting_clubs_or_protecting_the). Over on r/MCFC, the talk is lighter, with a thread asking people to show the new monogram some love after spotting it around the Etihad at the Arsenal game (https://www.reddit.com/r/MCFC/comments/1wxrpsu/can_we_show_the_new_monogram_some_love).
