The story of Manchester City and 115 charges

After a summer celebrating their first trophy in 35 years, City began preparing for life in the Champions League as Uefa’s FFP regulations took hold. This meant clubs were required to balance their books over three-year cycles, starting from 2011-12, with the first deadline in 2013.

With losses of £123.3m the previous season, City would have fallen foul of the new guidelines. And what would the punishment be for non-compliance? “The atomic bomb is a ban from European competition,” threatened Uefa’s Jean-Luc Dehaene.

That same summer, City’s Eastlands home got a new name. Etihad Stadium was born as the club signed a 10-year deal with the Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways airline, which was already their shirt sponsor, worth up to £400m. 

That deal came under scrutiny, including from Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger and Ian Ayre at Liverpool. “Are Etihad, City and Sheikh Mansour related parties? If they are, it’s up to Uefa to rule on them,” Liverpool managing director Ayre told the Independent.

City categorically denied the fee they negotiated with Etihad was artificially inflated, saying “figures being speculated about are not accurate”. “Manchester City is a proactive member of the European Clubs’ Association and is working actively and with transparency with regard to financial fair play,” they added. “In light of these facts, recent comments about the partnership by some observers are unfounded and regrettable.”

In the end, their first Premier League triumph could not have been more dramatic. Needing a win over relegation-threatened QPR at the Etihad on the final day of the 2011-12 season to claim a first title since 1968, City found themselves 2-1 down in added time, having seemingly handed another championship to rivals United.

Dzeko nodded the hosts level before another substitute, Balotelli, falling and stretching, poked the ball into Sergio Aguero’s path for a 94th-minute winner. “I swear you’ll never see anything like this ever again!” exclaimed commentator Martin Tyler. Aguero, signed the previous summer for a club record fee, whipped his jersey off as pandemonium ensued, the normally suave Mancini scampering frantically to embrace his coaching staff. Manchester was blue.

Four years after taking over the club, and having spent almost half a billion pounds on transfers at a net loss of £345.9m, City’s owners had their first Premier League crown.

But, as was alleged in Der Spiegel’s reports seven years later, this was when the club were about to bend Uefa’s financial rules, by allegedly inflating sponsorship deals with Etihad, Aabar and the Abu Dhabi tourism authority. These deals, it said, were supplemented by City owner Sheikh Mansour. Der Spiegel quoted an internal email, sent by club executive Simon Pearce in April 2010, regarding an annual £15m deal with investment company Aabar. It read: “As we discussed, the annual direct obligation for Aabar is £3m. The remaining £12m will come from alternative sources provided by His Highness.” City said the Abu Dhabi-based companies were independent sponsors.

City’s summer recruitment was modest compared to previous years, with Englishmen Jack Rodwell and Scott Sinclair among the arrivals, and the following February Premier League clubs agreed to new spending controls. They stated clubs would not be allowed to make a total loss of more than £105m over the next three seasons, although investment in areas such as stadiums and academies would be exempt. “If people break the £105m we will look for the top-end ultimate sanction range – a points deduction,” insisted Premier League boss Richard Scudamore.

After Mancini’s outfit finished bottom of their Champions League group, they were also unable to follow up on their Premier League title, ending the season 11 points behind rivals United, who were inspired by the signing of Robin van Persie.

City did, however, reach the 2013 FA Cup final. There, they would face Wigan Athletic. In one of Wembley’s biggest shocks, Wigan, who would be relegated to the Championship a few days later, clinched a stunning 1-0 win thanks to Ben Watson’s 91st-minute header. Mancini, who was becoming increasingly outspoken, paid with his job.

According to Der Spiegel, though, Mancini’s sacking and subsequent pay-off left a £9.9m shortfall. Der Spiegel claim to have seen internal documents that show City officials discussed how to wipe that out. The German magazine reported that, in an internal email, City’s chief financial officer Jorge Chumillas wrote: “We will have a shortfall of £9.9m in order to comply with Uefa FFP this season. The deficit is due to RM termination. I think that the only solution left would be an additional amount of AD sponsorship revenues that covers this gap.”

City responded by saying: “The attempt to damage the club’s reputation is organised and clear.” They have maintained allegations are “entirely false” and came from “illegal hacking and out-of-context publication of City emails”.

Speaking after City had been found guilty, Mancini – now Italy head coach – was asked about the case.

“Found guilty of what?” he said. “It’s not an issue that concerns me. It’s nothing new because this matter has been discussed for the last four or five years.

“Manchester City has not been found guilty, and the alleged double contract is not my concern. It’s their issue, not mine.”

City stated Mancini’s departure was in part due to the need for a more “holistic approach”. So in June 2013, Chilean Manuel Pellegrini was brought in from high-flying Malaga, hot on the heels of comments to the press from chief executive Ferran Soriano that he wanted five trophies in the next five years. Pellegrini – nicknamed ‘The Engineer’ –  was armed with the arrivals of Jesus Navas, Fernandinho, Stevan Jovetic and Alvaro Negredo, while Carlos Tevez was among those to depart.

Pellegrini’s free-scoring City side duly delivered two trophies in one season. First, they lifted the League Cup in March 2014. Then, having scored 102 goals, City clinched a second Premier League title in May. “Big teams cannot be satisfied with one title,” insisted Pellegrini. “On Tuesday we start working for the next season.”

City may have won the title on Sunday and got back to work on Tuesday, but by Friday they were hit with a first round of Uefa FFP punishments for posting combined losses of almost £149m for the previous two seasons. The club were fined £49m, £32m suspended, and their Champions League squad was capped at 21 players. They were told they could not spend more than £49m on transfers, plus any fees received, and their wage bill must not rise. “At the heart of discussions is a fundamental disagreement between the club’s and Uefa’s respective interpretations of the FFP regulations on players purchased before 2010,” City responded. “The club believes it has complied with the FFP regulations on this and all other matters.”

The sales of Rodwell, Javi Garcia and Gareth Barry meant they were still able to dip into the market with the £41m arrival of Eliaquim Mangala, the £25m addition of Wilfried Bony and the £12m purchase of Fernando. Then, in December 2014, a new £200m state-of-the-art training complex was opened with the aim of attracting and developing the best young players in the world. “We are building a structure for the future, not just a team of all-stars,” reads a Sheikh Mansour quote on the wall.

City expanded elsewhere, too. The women’s team completed their first season in the WSL and won the League Cup. City Football Group, having created New York City FC a year earlier, added Melbourne City and a stake in Yokohama F Marinos to its roster.

Come May, Pellegrini was not able to add to his silverware haul, finishing second to Chelsea after City’s form dropped in the second half of the Premier League season. The Champions League again proved elusive, with an exit against Barcelona in the last 16. Luis Enrique’s side would go on to win the competition, while City ended the campaign trophyless.