06/10/2026
Regardless of the eventual punishment, if Manchester City’s guilty verdict remains unchanged after their appeal, the financial ramifications for the club could be huge. 😬
According to research from The i Paper, relegation resulting from a potential points deduction — one of the punishments that has been touted — could cost City more than half a billion pounds.
Such a dramatic drop in revenue could also create a major FFP/PSR headache, potentially forcing the club to sell some of its biggest assets.
Dropping out of the lucrative Premier League and Champions League would see City’s broadcasting revenue plummet, while a reduction in high-profile fixtures could also make it significantly harder to sell premium ticket packages and hospitality experiences.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire explained:
🗣️ “City fans will still turn up. That’s not an issue. What Manchester City will struggle to do is to sell the boxes, to sell the experiences, to sell the Tunnel Club offerings at the prices which they’ve been charging this season.
“You can’t do it at home to Swansea and expect to get the same money coming in as you have when you’ve got Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and so on.”
An even bigger concern could be sponsorship revenue, and whether the major companies backing the Cityzens would remain with the club — and at the same level — following a guilty verdict and potential relegation from the world’s biggest domestic football league.
City reported commercial revenues of £300m two years ago, while the average Championship club is believed to generate somewhere in the region of £10m-£20m in commercial revenue.
That dramatic reduction in income could then create another problem if City attempted to maintain their current squad on its existing wage bill.
The EFL operates separate Squad Cost Rules (SCR) to those used in the Premier League, with Championship clubs permitted to spend 85% of their allowable income on player and manager-related costs. If spending rises above 115% of revenue, clubs face a six-point deduction, with a further point deducted for every £6.5m spent above the limit.
City’s last recorded wage bill was more than £400m, while only three Championship clubs had wage bills north of £50m in 2024-25.
As The i Paper explained: “Erling Haaland alone earns £27m per year, based on his reported £525,000-a-week salary, and you need only add City’s next five highest earners in Enzo Fernandez (£18m), Phil Foden (£16m), Jeremy Doku (£15m), Gianluigi Donnarumma (£14m) and Marc Guehi (£14m) to surpass that Leeds total.”
"Put simply, if those six players alone remained on their current wages, City’s income would need to exceed £120m to remain within the 85% SCR limit."
If City were relegated, the combination of dramatically reduced revenue and their enormous existing wage bill could therefore leave them with little choice but to sell a significant proportion of their highest earners in order to avoid further sanctions from the EFL.