Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany believes that it is "silly" and "naive" for people to think that the Citizens "are the big bad evil" amidst the club's ongoing legal battles with the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola's side have made an unbeaten start to the defence of their top-flight title this season, currently sitting just one point behind leaders Liverpool heading into the international break, but it is their off-field performances that continue to be examined further.
Indeed, the verdict in Man City's legal case against the Premier League over the league's Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules, based on commercial deals involving clubs' owners, was announced on Monday, with both sides claiming partial victories.
APT rules are designed to make sure that any deals that a club does with a company connected to its own owners is fair market value, with the rules ensuring that any deals agreed have not been inflated, which could give clubs more to spend under current financial rules.
Those rules were amended in February and the changes were deemed controversial, with only 12 of 20 Premier League clubs voting in favour of them. However, two clubs abstained, so the amended rules were allowed to be introduced.
As a result, Man City took the unprecedented step of taking legal action against Premier League in June, and now - following a tribunal - say their legal action had "succeeded".
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Man City, Premier League locked in landmark legal battle
The reigning top-flight champions, who are owned by the Abu Dhabi-backed City Football Group, had some complaints upheld, with two aspects of the APT rules deemed unlawful and breach UK competition laws according to an independent arbitration panel.
However, the Premier League have issued a statement of their own saying that the tribunal rejected the majority of Man City's challenges and "endorsed the overall objectives, framework and decision-making of the APT system".
The complicated matter has since escalated further, with Man City general counsel Simon Cliff writing a letter to the other 19 top-flight clubs criticising the league's summary of the case verdict, saying it contains "several inaccuracies" and has accused the Premier League of being "misleading".
It is now understood that all Premier League clubs will hold an emergency meeting next week to discuss the judgement - one that is separate to the 115 financial charges levelled at the club by the Premier League, with the hearing on this matter known to be ongoing since mid-September.
Reacting to this off-field fracas, McInerney is somewhat surprised by how public this is and believes that all football fans, including Man City supporters, should "wait and judge the picture when it becomes a lot clearer".
Speaking to Sports Mole, McInerney said: "It's so complicated... it's confusing, because [both Man City and the Premier League] can't be right. Someone has to be right on this, and I'll be amazed if City's claim about some of the rules being unlawful is inaccurate, because surely you can't just say that publicly.
McInerney: 'Wait and judge the picture when it becomes a lot clearer'
"Someone's trying to save face, I don't know who that is right now. As a City fan, the more interesting thing for me is how a lot of the evidence is public and we've seen some of the statements, and we've seen some of the claims and the Premier League's emails being used against them a little bit.
"I try and stay out of this a lot until the picture is very clear, because it's so muddy, and I think tribalism seeps through it all a lot. I'm very aware of the picture that's been painted a lot of City fans, how we're just batting for our team for the sake of it. I think every football fan has a right, in general, to sit back and listen and wait and judge the picture when it becomes a lot clearer. That's always been the stance I've taken."
McInerney added: "Guardiola implied that he feels in football that there are just people with interests, there's no enemies or friends, just people looking out for themselves.
"I've always felt a little bit defensive of my club, because I do believe that City and Newcastle (whose Saudi-backed takeover was completed in 2021), they were new money, they were a threat to the biggest sides. It's human nature to be aware of your challenges as a business.
"Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool, these are big businesses, and City's rise was a direct threat to their current standing in the league. I think we've seen it play out as they felt it would do - City becoming quite a dominant force in world football.
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"Let's see how it goes, because as with anything in life, there is lobbying, there is politics and football is an intensely political landscape. There's billions of pounds at stake.
"I'm not going to judge my team until we see the bigger picture, because I do believe it's possible that these clubs are lobbying against my club.
"...maybe there is more to it than meets the eye, maybe some clubs are lobbying against Man City, and there's a lot of pressure on the Premier League to investigate City... I don't think it's an unreasonable stance to take, as a City fan... that some clubs are threatened and will do anything to make sure that their standing is safe.
Do all clubs 'play one billion per cent by the rules'?
"My take from this whole thing is that it's complicated. There is infighting, these certain clubs will band together to go at other clubs, and that gets messy, because they're all banging heads against each other.
"As we've seen as well from the Premier League and City, they're all going to claim victory, because so much of this is PR, so much of this is optics, and as a City fan, I don't really believe any club plays one billion per cent by the rules.
"Billionaire businesses may play by the rules, but they'll be creative with what they can and can't do. I think this applies to more than just Manchester City. Everyone is out to eat any advantage they can get out of a situation.
"Something has now come out to do with Arsenal getting [£259m] of shareholder loans with 0% interest rates, and City will say that's not a fair market value, so what's going on there?"
McInerney was referring to reports that have emerged suggesting that the current regulations around interest-free shareholder loans are now deemed "unlawful" following City's tribunal, and it is "procedurally unfair" that these deals are not considered part of APT rules.
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According to i news, £4.8bn is borrowed by Premier League clubs and £1.9bn comes from shareholder loans alone, with Arsenal (£259m), Brighton & Hove Albion (£373m) and most notably Everton (£451m) currently benefiting from these "soft loans".
This debt is not taken into account by fair market value assessments, but this rule could now be changed following the verdict announced on Monday.
McInerney continued: "Everyone is throwing mud at everyone and this idea that City, to me as a City fan, are the big bad evil and everyone else is pure perfect, I think it's just silly, I think it's naive.
"I think City fans essentially - especially given the evidence coming out that people do lobby against certain clubs - I think City fans have every right to feel a little bit defensive about their club and [should] wait to see how it all evolves."
What happens next for Man City and the Premier League?
Man City initially had two commercial deals with Etihad Aviation Group and First Abu Dhabi Bank blocked by the Premier League, but the tribunal have said that the Premier League must look at those deals again.
It is possible that the Citizens could sue the Premier League and try to get compensation, as they will presumably feel that the blocking of both deals prevented them from bringing more money into the club.
In addition, it remains to be seen how the verdict from this legal case could have implications for the case relating to Man City's 115 alleged charges.
Oliver Thomas
