Manchester City's $595M spending spree 'makes a mockery' of 115 Premier League charges, says ex-boss
· Yahoo Sports
Former Manchester City chairman David Bernstein claims the club's staggering £440 million ($594.7 million) summer transfer spend makes a 'mockery' of Premier League financial regulations. The 83-year-old, who also served as FA Chair between 2011 and 2013, has raised serious questions over the Premier League's management of the ongoing case.
City were hit with 115 charges of breaching Premier League financial regulations back in February 2023, with a 12-week hearing wrapping up in December 2024. Yet since then, there has been complete silence, with the independent commission still to deliver its verdict on the highly complex case.
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The club have firmly denied all allegations, and frustration is mounting on all sides over the length of time it is taking to reach a conclusion, as per The Mirror. Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has acknowledged that the ruling has taken considerably longer than anticipated.
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City's eye-watering summer expenditure of £440 million included matching the British-record transfer fee for Enzo Fernandez at £125 million ($169.1 million), alongside the acquisitions of Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for £116 million ($155.2 million) and Ayyoub Bouaddi for £86 million ($117 million). The former City chief has emerged as the latest prominent critic to speak out against the time taken to reach a verdict.
Writing in the Sunday Times, Bernstein stated: "The fact they have done this (transfer spend) against the background of the 115 Premier League charges is extraordinary and makes a mockery of regulation in England's top division, supposedly the best-run league in the world.
"Why the league decided to prosecute all 115 alleged offences is a mystery to me. Surely common sense (often in short supply) would point to simplifying the process by taking a handful of the bigger, clearer issues and pursuing these as specimen cases.
"Justice delayed is justice denied, and the longer this process is drawn out, the more the resulting implications and challenges are compounded."
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Speaking last month, Masters maintained that the noise emanating from boardrooms across the country was nowhere near as deafening as online chatter might indicate.
"I obviously speak to clubs all the time," he said. "It's not necessarily a topic of conversation that is top of the list. (There are) Lots of other things to talk about and do. The Premier League moves on. It's starting (again) on Friday evening."
Masters has, however, made no secret of his frustration over the length of time the independent panel has taken to deliver a verdict, remarking: "The process is the process.
"It will resolve itself. But as you know, I literally can't say a thing about it. There's only one available option, which is to allow the process to reach its natural conclusion.
"I can't talk about the substance of the case. I can't talk about the timing of the case. Our rules are very clear about that. I understand that people are frustrated but it will take as long as it takes."