Man City not under Uefa investigation in relation to Financial Fair Play rules

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Andy Hampson4 September 2017

Manchester City are not being investigated in relation to Financial Fair Play rules following a complaint by La Liga, Uefa has announced.

The European governing body has clarified its position after a statement from the Spanish league led to reports an official probe was being conducted.

That statement was made after La Liga wrote to Uefa to make a formal complaint about City and Paris Saint-Germain. Uefa did announce last week that PSG are being investigated.

A Uefa spokesperson said: "There is no investigation into Manchester City with regards to Financial Fair Play regulations. Any reports mentioning such an investigation are unsubstantiated."

City have not commented on the matter but are not understood to be concerned. The club do not believe they are even close to breaching regulations and that would also have been the case had they succeeded in their deadline-day bid for Alexis Sanchez last week.

City, who spent more than £200million in the summer transfer window, offered Arsenal £55m up front for the Chile forward on Thursday but a deal failed to materialise.

La Liga's complaints were made in a letter on August 22. The league made public its concerns in a statement on Monday.

It read: "There will be an investigation following the formal complaint filed by La Liga asking Uefa to inspect Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City FC for violation of financial fair play regulations.

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"La Liga, the association of the best football teams in Spain, is pleased that Uefa has opened a formal investigation into financial fair play at Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).

"The investigation comes after La Liga formally requested these tests from PSG and Manchester City FC in August."

PSG bought Neymar this summer for a world record £200.6million and secured another of Europe's most highly-rated players, Kylian Mbappe, on a season-long loan.

La Liga claims the finances at Qatari-owned PSG and Abu Dhabi-backed City "are not based on the market reality".

La Liga president Javier Tebas said: "The funding of PSG and Manchester City, thanks to state aid, distorts European competitions and creates an inflationary spiral that irreparably damages the football industry."

Uefa felt the need to clarify the matter regarding City, even though La Liga's statement did eventually go on to acknowledge the Premier League outfit were not actually being investigated.

It added: "La Liga asks Uefa to continue its investigation, taking into account PSG's history of actions. In addition, La Liga asks Uefa to open a similar investigation to Manchester City."

City have been a frequent target for critics since their big-money takeover by Sheikh Mansour's Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008.

They were punished for an FFP violation in 2014 when they were hit with a fine, transfer spending cap and a Champions League squad restriction.

In recent years, however, the club have shown strong signs of financial independence and have recorded profits in their last two financial years.