Manchester City should be assured of complying with UEFA’s financial fair play rules this season after drastically cutting their losses compared to last year.
The club’s annual report shows City had record revenues of £346.5million (Dh2bn) for the year ending May 31 2014, a 28 per
cent increase thanks to finishing as Premier League champions, the bumper new TV deal and commercial income rises.
City’s overall losses have halved to £23m (Dh132.5m) – of which £16m (Dh92m) was the fine imposed by UEFA last season for
FFP rule breaches and does not count towards this year’s calculation.
The results also show City are no longer the club with the biggest wage bill in the Premier League – they are now second on £204m (Dh1.2bn) behind neighbours Manchester United’s £214.8m (Dh1.23bn).
In terms of UEFA’s FFP rules, City’s results should mean that the full £50m (Dh288m) conditional fine announced in May will not
apply and that the financial penalty will be limited to £16m (Dh92m).
City, who are due to unveil their new academy next week, are also able to write off large sums spent on youth development as far as FFP is concerned, with the club confident they have a cushion of £20m (Dh115m) to £25m (Dh144m) above UEFA’s allowed losses.
The figures underline the stridesthe club has made since the takeover by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, of the Abu Dhabi ruling family, since he bought City in August 2008.
Wages are now 59 per cent of turnover, compared to 86 per cent a year ago. The drop in the wage bill is partly explained by the fact the previous figure included significant pay-offs to former manager Roberto Mancini and his coaching team.
Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said in the annual report: “We have moved beyond the period of heavy investment that was
required to make the club competitive again, it is commercial growth of the kind we are seeing today that will underpin and support our operations in the future.”
