It’s no secret that Manchester City and more recently Newcastle are among the clubs often singled out when market disruption is discussed. And for good reason, for more than a decade, the team trained by Pep Guardiola has risen among the best teams in Europe, as demonstrated by the coronation in the Champions League last June against Inter (1-0), thanks to its financial power. But Eddie Howe’s Magpies are also ambitious and want to conquer the Premier League in turn. Since the end of 2021, Newcastle have spent around €400m on the transfer market to get back to the top. Yes but now, the owners of the clubs are questioning, while the DailyMail reports that the European Commission (EC) may investigate them.
The Commission tells the British media “having received complaints against both clubs from multiple parties over new rules designed to prevent ‘state aid’ from distorting markets across the continent.” Manchester City, on the other hand, has always assumed the club was a personal business of Sheikh Mansour, a member of the Abu Dhabi ruling family and Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates. Newcastle is 80% owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF). The way in which the two English clubs are managed would not reserve as much equity as that. In addition to the various Premier League clubs having been able to file a complaint with the European Commission, it is still not impossible according to the DailyMail that La Liga president Javier Tebas protested against “state-funded clubs”, such as Manchester City for example. What is certain is that the Magpies and the Skyblues are in the sights of the EC, which could soon begin an investigation into the management of the two English teams and therefore lead to large potential sanctions.
