GRIN THE MOOD
City & PSG sprees face UEFA probe
MANCHESTER CITY are back on Uefa’s Financial Fair Play radar after their spectacular £217million summer spending spree.
Both City and Paris SaintGermain were hit with fines for breaking FFP rules in 2014 – and the two Euro giants are being carefully scrutinised again. City boss Pep Guardiola has brought in five big-money signings already this summer, with more arrivals expected.
Guardiola started his shopping spree early with a £43.6m swoop for Monaco playmaker Bernado Silva. Keeper Ederson Moraes followed from Benfica, in a £35m deal, before City signed three full-backs – Tottenham’s Kyle Walker for a fee that could reach £54m, £49.4m Benjamin Mendy, and Real Madrid’s Danilo for £26.5m.
City have also been linked with a move for Monaco hotshot Kylian Mbappe at a cool £160m and are still in the hunt for Arsenal’s £70m-rated Chile striker Alexis Sanchez.
There’s no suggestion either PSG or City have stepped out of line – but, if the Blues were to land Sanchez, it would push their spending towards £300m in transfer fees alone. That would certainly alert Uefa’s FFP watchdog, who are already keeping a close eye on PSG’s potential world-record deal for Neymar.
The Qatar-backed French club are willing to meet Barcelona’s £196m buy-out clause for the 25-year-old superstar.
Andrea Traverso, who leads UEFA’s FFP watchdog, says clubs like PSG and City will have to tread even more carefully, as a second breach of the regulations could leave them open to a heavier punishment, including a ban from European competition.
Dispensation can be given to clubs to run up bigger losses than those laid out by UEFA, but any team that has been punished within the last three years cannot apply, ruling out PSG and City.
“We don’t make a distinction. All clubs are treated in the same way,” added Traverso. “PSG and City have been punished, but I can tell you Inter Milan and Roma have been restricted too.
“Major clubs in Turkey have been punished very heavily. Small, middle-sized and big clubs are treated in the same way. It’s been a long time since 2014 when the rules had just been introduced. Now, everyone knows them well.
“PSG are no longer under those restrictions, but that doesn’t mean they can start to do what they want. They must respect financial fair play regulations.”