Man City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak: I have strong views on Premier League charges

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak says he has “strong views” on Premier League charges against the club, adding that City is “very well-run”.

The recent treble winners had their case referred to an independent commission by the Premier League in February after being charged with over 100 breaches of financial rules spanning from 2009/10 to 2017/18.

They allegedly didn’t provide accurate financial information and allegedly, Man City did not fully disclose the financial remunerations that were made to one of their managers over a four-year period. The suggestion is that there was a secret contract so one of the managers was getting paid much more than officially stated.

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The Premier League also allege Man City didn’t comply with UEFA’s financial fair play rules over a five-year period. They also allege that Man City have not fully co-operated with the Premier League’s investigation.

The club have unequivocally denied the allegations, with manager Pep Guardiola recently calling for a quick resolution “for the benefit of everyone”.

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Image: Man City completed their treble with the Champions League, beating Inter Milan in Istanbul

Following victories in the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in the 2022/23 season, chairman Al Mubarak spoke to the club’s official media channels. While he could not fully discuss the charges as an ongoing legal matter – although says he will air his “blunt views” once the process is complete – he did go some way to defend Man City from perceived misconceptions.

“Obviously I can’t talk about them unfortunately for legal reasons,” Al Mubarak said, as part of his annual address.

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Watch the best bits from Manchester City’s treble parade as the players and staff took to the stage to celebrate with fans

“And what I would typically always do is comment after, so I think we’re going to go through, we’re going through the legal process. These are proceedings that take whatever time they take and when we’re done, we’ll have a conversation.

“I’ll give you my very blunt views, I promise you that. I have very strong views on that, but I am going to be unfortunately very restrained.

“It’s very frustrating because it takes so much from the great work that’s happening at this club and it’s happening not just on the football pitch. The football pitch – what these players have achieved this year, the treble, is incredible.

Al Mubarak on winning the treble…

“[It is a] relief. Winning this, it reminds me back to 2011/12, that QPR game, the first Premier League. There was relief in that game and then happiness.

“With the Champions League, we’ve tried so hard for so many years. And then to finally do it, it’s relief, it’s happiness, but it’s really more relief. We finally have that trophy right here.”

“I hope people focus and judge them for their football, what they’re achieving on the pitch and what they’re achieving in every competition they’re in.

“The club as a whole is well run, is very well run. Today, the value of this group is over six billion dollars. We’ve created so much value – we’ve brought in world class investors. Why? Because we have a commercial machine here that is one of the best in the world.

“We can go on for half an hour right now with me just giving you data in terms of net spend over the last season, net spend over the last three years, over the last five years, over the last ten years – look at every single one of them and just look at these as the facts and compare us to our competition and then people will throw at us ‘the biggest spenders’, ‘you have the biggest squad’.

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Pep Guardiola has pleaded for a quick resolution over Man City’s alleged breaches of Premier League’s financial rules, but promised he will stay on regardless of the outcome.

“I wish people can just pause and ask the question and get the facts and then comment.

“Our executives are being targeted by the best teams in the world – always. By the way – it’s a credit to us. I respect that. People appreciate that we are producing, not just the best talent on the pitch, not just the best talent in the academy, not just the best talent in the group, but we’re producing some of the best executives in the world, some of the best scouts in the world, some of the best sporting staff in the world.

“And that’s a testament to the great work that this group is doing. We’re the number one football brand in the world. These are the facts. The club generates a tremendous revenue.”

On Guardiola signing a new contract…

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Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola reflects on winning the treble

In a wide-ranging interview, Al Mubarak also gave his views on a number of different Man City topics, beginning with Guardiola signing a new contract in November…

“It was very important because he’s such an important part of this club. He’s an incredible, incredible leader. I knew where Pep’s heart was and I knew where his mind was. I think I was never really concerned. We’ve had these conversations before. But the timing was important at the time. It was always very important because it gave clarity.

“It [Guardiola being at City for seven years] shows you the environment that we have, which is a special environment and the environment every one of us plays a part in this. It’s not just the management team, it’s not just the players, it’s not just the coaching staff.

“It’s the city, it’s the fans. It’s the people, that entire ecosystem. It’s a lifestyle decision. It’s a personal decision. It’s a human decision. It’s a coaching decision for sure from him, from a professional standpoint. I think what we all provide for Pep is all of that. And that’s what’s kept him this long.”

On Haaland’s form in his first season at City…

Image: Erling Haaland scored 52 goals in 53 games across all competitions for Man City last season

“What an addition he has been… what amazed me about Erling is the confidence. He’s got something special, confidence with respect.

“And to be having that conversation post-signing your contract with your chairman and saying at the end of that conversation, ‘Mr. Chairman, I’m going to win the Champions League for you. I’m here to win the Champions League for Manchester City and we’re going to win it’ a year ago is really a testament to the greatness of this player. And to show you where Erling is going, this is the beginning. And the scary part, this is just the beginning for him.

“The beauty of Erling is that he’s a champion. He’s never satisfied. If it’s one goal, if it’s no goals, if it’s two goals, if it’s five goals.

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Manchester City’s Ederson couldn’t hide his amusement at Ruben Dias’ brief encounter with alcohol and it didn’t end well for poor Jack Grealish’s mother.

“I remember when he scored five after the game, he was telling me ‘I should have scored another three or four’, genuinely not joking. Like in his mind, he knows ‘I should have probably scored seven that night or even eight that night’.

“That’s that winning mentality. That’s that winning recipe which you know is the intangible, the anomaly that makes you great. And in Erling, I think this club now, we have an unbelievable, unbelievable player.”

On Gundogan’s future…

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Sky Sports News’ Ben Ransom has the latest news on the future of Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan following their treble-winning victory over Inter Milan

“Ilkay has been absolutely tremendous. To be the captain of this club in this historic treble – lifting the Premier League first, then the FA Cup and then the Champions League – he will go down in the folklore of Manchester City forever.

“He has been the first signing of Pep to Manchester City. I remember him when he came in – he is a captain, and he’s a representation of this club in terms of hard work, commitment always, humbleness, winning mentality.

“And when you need him, when you need him in the big games, he’s always there. I hope there’s more chapters to that legacy. Ilkay has to make big life decisions for him, but in the end, it’s fully understandable, we always have to respect our players, their wishes.”

On how Man City keeping succeeding after the treble…

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Ilkay Gundogan lifts the Premier League trophy as Manchester City celebrated their third successive title with a 1-0 win against Chelsea at the Etihad.

“You always can top it because the future is the future and records are records and we as we’ve done every year, we keep building this incredible legacy every year with new achievements, new records, consistency.

“Look what we have next year – we have the Charity Shield, for the first time, this club is going to be competing in the Super Cup and the Club World Cup. We want to win these and we want to add them to the history of this great club, to the legacy of this great club.

“Everything we do is setting new records and new standards. I’m already thinking about next year. Even at the Champions League final, there was a joke between me, Ferran [Soriano], Txiki [Begiristain] and Pep, when we had had our moment, we looked at each other and it was, ‘okay, now we’ve got to do it again’.

“We have so much more to achieve, and the challenge continues, and the journey continues and hopefully next year we’ll be able to produce another special year.”