Manchester City's financial model during their rise to dominance has come under fresh scrutiny, with Sky Sports' Between the Lines detailing how the club allegedly inflated revenues by £830m through what have been described as "sham" commercial deals between 2009/10 and 2017/18.
According to the report, these disguised funding arrangements played a central role in enabling City's enormous transfer spending during that period, effectively reshaping the Premier League's competitive landscape and setting a new financial benchmark for rivals to match.
The findings form part of the ongoing examination into City's conduct, with Sky Sports outlining how the alleged breaches gave the club a significant financial advantage that fuelled its transformation into one of Europe's dominant forces. The piece explores the broader implications for football's financial regulations and how such practices, if proven, could influence the sport's governance moving forward.