Why Manchester City thought Arsenal were going to receive a punishment from the Premier League

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Manchester City and the Premier League are at one another’s throats at the moment as they continue to debate a number of ongoing financial issues.

City’s legal team have been fighting tooth and nail to clear their name amid their 115 charges, while a number of other issues have also come to light over the past few weeks.

Manchester City did receive a boost this week as an arbitration panel ruled in their favour regarding associated party transactions.

There were a number of interesting outcomes from this tribunal, but perhaps one of the most intriguing points was around shareholder loans and sanctions attached to those investments.

Indeed, this tribunal found that shareholders’ loans should not be excluded as a part of the rules regarding third-party transactions.

“That Shareholder loans should not be excluded from the scope of the APT Rules. By way of background, the exclusion of Shareholder loans from the APT Rules was a choice by the majority of clubs who wished to encourage transparent investment and 19 of them (including Manchester City) voted in favour of this approach,” The Premier League’s statement read.

Speaking on the Premier League All Access Podcast, Alex Crook and Sam Matterface have been discussing Manchester City’s ongoing tribunal.

Crook noted that Manchester City believed that Arsenal and Brighton would be affected by this rule change, but, in fact, that will not be the case.

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Manchester City thought Arsenal were set to be punished by the Premier League

Crook and Matterface discussed the findings of this tribunal, claiming that City believed Arsenal were set for punishment.

Luckily for Arsenal, these rules will not be applied retrospectively, so their shareholders’ loans aren’t going to be a cause for sanctions.

“The big win for City is the shareholders’ loans aspect and I can understand that,” Crook said.

“That’s not a massive win because they were changing it anyway, they had to because they’re adopting UEFA’s system in 18 months’ time, that would already be the case, and it won’t change anything because it’s not retrospective,” Matterface said.

Crook then added, “That’s the key, the interpretation from City’s side was that there would be possible punishments for the likes of Arsenal and Brighton who borrowed heavily from their owners, but that clearly isn’t going to be the case.”

How much have Arsenal borrowed?

As Crook says, Arsenal have borrowed heavily from their owners in recent times, but just how much have they lent?

According to The Standard, Arsenal have borrowed a whopping £258m from their owners in recent years, so it’s easy to understand why City believed they could be under fire.

Luckily for Arsenal, they appear to have got away with this one, but their future borrowing will have to be curtailed.

As for City, their battle with the Premier League continues.

City recently asked for another rule change in the Premier League, while interestingly, Wolves were amongst the teams in City’s corner as this APT issue rumbled on.

Football is becoming more and more about business these days, and make no mistake, this isn’t the last we’ve heard about City’s battle with football’s top authorities.