'Fantastic lawyers, better accountants' - Ex-Red slams Man City over 115 charges

Manchester City took a HUGE step towards a fourth Premier League title in a row - and a sixth in seven seasons - by beating Tottenham on Tuesday night. 

A second-half Erling Haaland brace in North London put City firmly in the driving seat heading into the final day of the season, where they will face West Ham at the Etihad. 

City now have a TWO point lead over Arsenal heading into the season’s last round of fixtures, although the Gunners have a very slender goal difference advantage. 

Nonetheless it now feels inevitable that the Abu Dhabi-backed outfit will take home another major trophy having won the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup treble last year, also adding the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup during the course of this campaign. 

There is no doubt that Pep Guardiola has coached the team well as they have swept the honours board over the past few seasons but the elephant in the room is the 115 charges that City STILL face. 

The club were charged in early 2023 with allegedly breaching 115 FFP rules from 2009-2018, although the club strongly refute those claims.

Guardiola has been at pains to defend his club from the accusations of financial wrongdoing but for Liverpool it’s always been a case of what might have been. 

The Reds have been THREE TIMES runners-up to City during the time period covered by the charges, in 2014, 2019 and 2022. 

In 2019, they took home 97 points in the Premier League - a record-breaking haul - and in 2022 that total was 92. 

Former Liverpool midfielder Jason McAteer says City’s charges ‘stick in the throat’ and offered backhanded praise for the manner in which the Etihad side have been able to fend off the accusations to this point. 

“My team Liverpool have been hot on their heels and it does stick in your throat when you think how close they got to Manchester City and how many titles we could have won,” he told beIN SPORTS. 

“And then you look at the circumstances where they have been able to spend what they want, they've had fantastic lawyers and even better accountants. 

“So it does stick in your throat.”

McAteer: What must Arteta think?

Arsenal are the team who could lose out this season to City having pushed them so close throughout the Premier League campaign. 

Manager Mikel Arteta, long-time assistant to Guardiola at City, is about to suffer at the hands of the team which gave him a start in his coaching career. 

That is something, McAteer acknowledges, which must be tough to take for the Spaniard. 

“Mikel Arteta is so close to this title,” he said. “Last season they fell away with a couple of games to go but this season it's going down to the wire. 

“If they lose it, what is going through his head with Manchester City and how they do business and all of these 115 charges?”