Manchester City’s transfer plans may be altered as a result of the Premier League’s charge.
According to reports, Manchester City is set to accelerate their plans to sign Jude Bellingham this summer as the club faces Premier League charges for financial regulation violations. The English champions have been accused of violating over 100 regulations over a nine-year period, but the club is proceeding with the summer transfer window as usual.
Manchester City’s transfer plans may be impacted by the Premier League’s charge.
After the Premier League concluded its four-year investigation into the Abu Dhabi-owned entity, the club faces being docked points or even kicked out of the competition.
It is similar to the European ban imposed on City by UEFA in 2020, which was later overturned, with City insisting throughout the process that they would clear their name and be able to attract players. Later that year, they paid a club record fee of £61 million to sign Ruben Dias.
According to The Athletic, Pep Guardiola’s side is ‘likely to press ahead’ with plans to repeat the same trick this summer by signing new contracts and agreeing on transfer deals.
Bellingham, who would reunite with former Dortmund teammate Erling Haaland at the club and is thought to be keen on a return to England, is likely to be first on their list.
Liverpool is also interested in signing the England international, but the Reds have struggled in the Premier League this season, and Champions League qualification is far from guaranteed.
The city knows they have the financial clout to pull off such a deal, with Dortmund expected to demand around £130 million for their prized asset. The main challenge would be to persuade the midfielder that City can continue to dominate English football and compete for the Champions League rather than being relegated from the Premier League.
But he might not need much convincing. After all, the same City executives negotiated with Lionel Messi 18 months ago before his free transfer fell through. City executives may need to brace themselves for Pep Guardiola’s possible departure, as the report adds that the Catalan is expected to have already left the club by the time the decision is made.
The independent panel makes the decision. In other news, City must decide how to proceed with player contracts. Ilkay Gundogan’s contract expires in June, while Nathan Ake and Aymeric Laporte would normally begin negotiating contract extensions with two years remaining on their current deals.
The club’s willingness to offer 18-year-old starlet Rico Lewis a lucrative new contract with a 400% pay increase suggests that it will be business as usual at the Etihad Stadium until the verdict is issued.
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