Czech Republic 0-2 England (Sulc red card 25′ | Gordon 47′, Kane 69′)
FORTUNA ARENA — Thomas Tuchel is on his final warning with many supporters. Despite claiming 99 per cent of fans he has spoken to since England’s heartbreaking World Cup exit have been positive, the reality is that many would have preferred to see the German leave rather than receive the FA’s backing.
A defeat in a tricky Nations League tie in Prague would have made it three losses in four games. Tuchel would have been tossed off the Charles Bridge.
Instead, he received an almighty helping hand from the officials in the Czech capital, while an uneventful victory and an elusive clean sheet were exactly what the under-pressure England coach needed.
On a seismic day in English football because of events back home, supporters were blissfully unaware of Manchester City being banged to rights as they enjoyed plentiful Czech lager around Old Town Square in unseasonably warm late-September weather.
It was one of those afternoons when some of the 1,024 travelling supporters may have thought long and hard about whether to bother with the match, given just how idyllic it was.
Prague is home to the second-largest sporting arena ever built, the Great Strahov Stadium, with a colossal capacity of 250,000. It actually houses nine football pitches, so it is not quite suitable for competitive international football.
The more compact Fortuna Arena, the site of West Ham’s most famous night, was instead selected. Its resemblance to a smaller St Mary’s Stadium is uncanny.
Jude Bellingham was rested as Tuchel took a gamble on Morgan Rogers in a midfield three alongside Myles Lewis-Skelly. It looked like a somewhat churlish move early on as the visitors laboured through the opening exchanges.
The Czech Republic had the better early chances, with their star man Pavel Sulc denied by a sharp James Trafford block on the edge of his penalty area.
Sulc remained centre stage as one rather harsh VAR call irrevocably changed the course of the match. His challenge on Elliot Anderson after 25 minutes was upgraded from a yellow card to a red – one of those that looked much worse in slow motion.
The fact it took until 68 seconds after the interval for England to break the deadlock is some cause for concern. Trent Alexander-Arnold, making his first England start in 716 days, provided the sublime cross for Anthony Gordon to head home. The Barcelona forward now has eight goal involvements in his last nine England games.
Harry Kane’s 87th England goal, pouncing clinically on a loose ball, then put the game to bed.
It is not an encounter that will live long in the memory for most, but Tuchel may savour this success in the years to come. Should he see his England project through, steadying moments are just as important as the swashbuckling successes.
After the tumultuous end to the World Cup and defeat at home to Spain last time out, Tuchel could not have wished for a more satisfying evening in Prague.
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Manchester City have been found guilty of all of the charges related to breaches of its financial rules, the Premier League has confirmed.
A 40-page redacted summary of the independent commission’s verdict revealed the extent of City’s alleged financial rule-breaking, with the club found to have created “sham” sponsorships as part of a “disguised funding scheme” that boosted revenues by £900m over a nine-year period.
Without those revenues, the statement revealed, they would have significantly breached both Premier League and Uefa financial fair play rules.
A Premier League statement revealed “the club filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of its finances from its auditors and football regulators”.
The club said in a very strong response they were “disappointed” with the verdict and indicated that they would be “relentless” and pursue “all appropriate regulatory and legal forums”. That was followed up by a video message from chief executive Ferran Soriano to club staff proclaiming their innocence.
Manchester City have known about the verdict since July, which is sure to raise eyebrows in the Premier League given the extent of their spending during the summer.
What were the key findings?
City’s greatest era of success is now under question (Photo: PA)
In short they couldn’t have been much more damning of City, finding them guilty of fraudulent activity on an industrial scale in a period where they established their dominance in English football.
The commission found almost all charges against City were proven, apart from one element of Charge 4(B). The exact details of that charge are redacted.
The independent commission found that City inflated their revenues by £830m through a series of “sham” commercial arrangements that misrepresented the true agreements between parties.
The commission found the club had filed misstated accounts and concealed the true state of their finances from their auditors and football regulators.
Without those arrangements the Premier League statement says that they would have “significantly” breached both the league and Uefa’s financial fair play limits.
The scale of the misrepresentation is huge. A statement reveals “well over 100 alleged individual breaches of Premier League Rules across four broad charge categories”.
The independent commission also found that the club made “concerted efforts to frustrate the Premier League investigation” over a four-year period and accused key City witnesses of giving evidence they knew to be untrue.
How did Man City respond?
City maintain their innonence despite the evidence stacking up against them (Photo: Getty)
In the strongest possible terms. City have claimed the verdict is based on false evidence and have pledged to take their fight through all possible avenues.
In a defiant club statement released shortly after the Premier League’s statement they said: “Manchester City FC is both disappointed and surprised by the opinion of the Premier League Commission, that has been published today.
“The Club is innocent of the accusations made by the Premier League and a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence exists in support of all of its positions, relating to this case. The Club will therefore be relentless, and where necessary proactive, in any and all appropriate regulatory and legal forums.
“The Premier League process remains ongoing, with significant elements uncompleted. Manchester City FC will now pursue the appeal avenues open to it, on the basis that the opinion contains clear material errors, of law, principle and fact, and is unsafe.
“The Club has diligently respected due process for eight years on the basis that the Premier League Board and Executive would behave as an independent, impartial and fair-minded regulator, free from partisan influence.
“The Club is obviously restricted in what it can say further until all future proceedings are complete.”
Case based on ‘false accusation’ Sponsorship money not from owner ‘Irrefutable evidence’ provided Premier League ‘conspiracy theory’ Extensive evidence ‘ignored’ Conclusion ‘clearly wrong’ Appeal will be filed… pic.twitter.com/Xj1RTvbfKX
That was followed up by a video address to shocked City staff in which Soriano said: “The whole Premier League case against us is based on a single false accusation – that the owner’s personal money was somehow and secretly put into the club via some sponsors from Abu Dhabi.
“This is just not true. Irrefutable evidence has been provided to PL commission that shows it could not happen and that it did not happen. This includes bank statements, money transfers, witnesses and everything necessary to categorically demonstrate the money did not come from the owner.
“Every other false charge that has been thrown at us comes from that simple, central and completely false accusation.
“Surprisingly for us and our lawyers after nearly two years the Premier League’s commission has issued an opinion that supports the Premier League’s conspiracy theory. To do so, the opinion had to ignore the extensive evidence provided by the club in order to reach a conclusion that is clearly wrong. Our lawyers will now file an appeal that sets out the opinion contains clear, material errors of law, principle and fact and that it is unsafe.”
What happens next?
City now have two days to appeal (Photo: Getty)
The independent commission found that the verdict was its “final award”, which is why the redacted verdict has been released today.
There will now be a sanctions hearing – at which both City and the Premier League can put forward their case – and the club will find out their punishment. Given the unprecedented nature of the case, all punishments are on the table including huge points deductions, relegation and even stripping the club of their titles.
The club have until Friday to formally appeal the verdict – which, given the strength of their response, is sure to happen.
Clearly there are potentially huge ramifications for the club and for the future of English football. Four clubs – Spurs, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool – are prepared to take legal action against City and the bill could run to hundreds of millions of pounds.
It also leaves the league in its biggest crisis. Premier League chairman Richard Masters said: “The core decision establishes the facts of what happened at Manchester City during this period. It details how the club systematically broke Premier League Rules for nearly a decade.
“It also vindicates the Premier League’s decision to pursue this case against Manchester City. While the process to date has been both long and difficult, the League has remained determined that the facts be established independently.
“It is a key responsibility of the Premier League to ensure that the Rules, approved by the clubs themselves, are upheld to protect the integrity of the competition. It is paramount that the League remains competitive and fair for all clubs and for the fans. We take that role extremely seriously.”
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The first time Alejandro Garnacho wore an Aston Villa shirt was not in pre-season but last summer, when he rather pointedly sported a “Rashford 9” jersey.
The shirt was from Marcus Rashford’s loan spell in the second half of the 2024-25 season, when the forward reinvigorated his career by changing environment.
Villa loaned Marco Asensio at the same time, and so began the club’s reputation for offering high-profile stars an attractive route out from their current impasse.
Head coach Unai Emery’s ability to get the most out of players has often been cited as one primary reason for Villa being an ideal location, likewise their recent stretch of European football.
But these loans have also been born out of necessity, leading to a factory producing mixed results with Garnacho the latest curious case.
Why Villa favour loan deals
Rashford and Asensio kick-started Villa’s love for high-profile loans (Photo: Getty)
Villa have implemented loan deals within their recruitment strategy since becoming European football regulars, with fines from Uefa the past two years forcing the club to get creative with transfers.
Restrictions mean they are unable to spend as freely as they would like, and explain the positive net spend of £62.8m this summer when Garnacho and Aaron Wan-Bissaka arrived on loan.
“Loan deal moves are linked to their compliance with Uefa’s squad cost ratio rules,” Loughborough University sports finance expert Dan Plumley tells The i Paper.
“We know they breached and they are on a business plan with Uefa that is being monitored.”
“Loan deals obviously mean no transfer cost right now and you can push that down the road, assuming you want to buy the player or have an obligation to do so. You are effectively just pushing the cost to a later point and probably the next financial year.”
For every Rashford, an Elliott – grading Villa’s loan deals
Marcus Rashford: Four goals and six assists in the second half of Villa’s 2024-25 campaign earned Rashford a loan move to Barcelona the season after. He notably thanked Villa and Emery after being called up to England’s World Cup 2026 squad. Grade: A-
Marco Asensio: A double sprinkle of stardust saw the Spaniard light up Villa Park along with Rashford in 2024-25, and though he faded towards the end of the campaign, eight goals and one assist helped Villa reach the Champions League quarter-finals and FA Cup semis. Grade: B+
Axel Disasi: Loaned from Chelsea at the same time as Rashford and Asensio, but was there as cover and made just six starts. He remains unwanted by Chelsea but the club are unable to sell him. After a loan spell at West Ham, now on loan at Crystal Palace. Grade: E
Jadon Sancho: The next high-profile name to join, on loan for the 2025-26 season, Sancho featured in 39 games for Villa but never held down a starting spot. He was useful cover for John McGinn in Europe but one goal and three assists perhaps explain why he is still a free agent. Grade: C
Harvey Elliott’s time at Aston Villa went awfully (Photo: Getty)
Harvey Elliott: “Embarrassing for everyone involved,” Emery noted in May. “My apologies for Harvey Elliott are, every day, in my mind.” Villa had an obligation to buy Elliott for £35m if he played 10 Premier League games, but he played just 104 minutes across four appearances in the league. It was a wasted season for Elliott, and it raised not only the question of why Villa loaned him, but who at Villa really wanted him. Clearly it was not Emery. Grade: F
Douglas Luiz: The Brazilian returned for a loan spell in the second half of last season and was largely cover for Youri Tielemans. He came on in the Europa League final and picked up a winners’ medal, but Villa did not take up their option to buy the midfielder from Juventus. Grade: B
What of Wan-Bissaka and Garnacho?
Aaron Wan-Bissaka is faring a little better at Aston Villa so far (Photo: Getty)
It is too soon to grade Villa’s current loan signings, but Garnacho and Wan-Bissaka have endured contrasting starts to life in the West Midlands.
Wan-Bissaka has started the last two league games, as well as their Champions League opener, and looks set for an ongoing battle for the right-back role with Matty Cash.
Garnacho meanwhile is down the pecking order for wingers and playing catch-up already.
“Work, work, train, work,” Emery said when asked about Garnacho’s lack of minutes. “He is progressing, but we have players in front of him now.”
The harsher reality of Garnacho’s slow start
Many have been quick to call Garnacho’s current predicament an Elliott 2.0 scenario, with reports of interest from Spain emerging already and Villa seemingly unwilling to activate the obligation to buy from Chelsea.
It is far too early call this fact, given Garnacho also suffered an injury in pre-season, but the reality is that the outlook has already changed at the club since he became their third signing early in the transfer window.
The emergence of George Hemmings has resulted in the 19-year-old becoming Villa’s breakout star of the season so far, with both Emery and captain McGinn glowing in their praise of a young winger eager to learn.
Praise for Hemmings’ work ethic is a reminder for Garnacho. They are direct rivals for the left-wing role, and with support for striker Nicolas Jackson also featuring McGinn, Alysson, Ibrahim Mbaye and Emiliano Buendia, competition is fierce.
The harsher reality though is that Garnacho is simply not as good as his rivals, and having been thrust into the spotlight at United early on in his career, it can be difficult to accept you are not at that level.
And Villa, really, is no step down from Chelsea or United currently given they are a Champions League club, and unless the 22-year-old convinces Emery otherwise, this season is only going one way.
Not every crossroad that leads players to Villa is successful, evidently, and now it is on Garnacho to prove the more probable path is not the one he will take.
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The Greek side that won Euro 2004 deserve many superlatives for an achievement that shocked a continent. But entertaining they were not.
Look around Europe a generation on and you will see that another Greek football revolution is in full swing. And this one looks a lot more fun.
It is led by Brighton’s teenage sensation, Charalampos Kostoulas, and Arsenal’s former Norwich City outcast, Christos Tzolis.
Going into the first international window of 2026-27, Kostoulas had scored four goals in eight matches so far this season and two from two in the Premier League for a Seagulls’ side soaring high in third place.
Charalampos Kostoulas has scored four goals for Brighton already this season (Photo: PA)
Arsenal, meanwhile, sit in second, thanks in part to the performances of Tzolis, who has already established himself as a regular starter for the champions.
Now, two matches into the Nations League, they have helped the country to back-to-back away wins against Serbia and Jurgen Klopp’s Germany. Greece now sit on top of their group and can now look forward to successive home matches against the Netherlands and Klopp’s men.
Little wonder that the mood in the country is as bouyant as its been in 22 years.
“They’re two players who reflect the way that the Greek side are now playing,” says Nikos Dabizas, the former defender who spent seven years in English football with Newcastle and then Leicester City.
“In the past, you would say that Greece’s strength was their defending, they were hard to beat, didn’t concede many goals but didn’t score many either.
“Now these guys, along with [Konstantinos] Karetsas at Dortmund, [Vangelis] Pavlidis at Benfica and [Stefanos] Tzimas, another kid at Brighton who came through the system at PAOK – there’s quality everywhere.”
Kostoulas is viewed as an emblematic figure in this new age for Greek football, although his roots can be found in the foundations that were laid for the 2004 triumph.
His father, Athanasios Kostoulas, played alongside Stelios Giannakopoulos during his time at Olympiakos. He also played alongside both Giannakopoulos – a member of that European Championship winning side 22 years ago – and Dabizas for the Greek national team.
Nikolas Dabizas (right) celebrates with Theodoros Zagorakis during the Euro 2004 final (Photo: Getty)
“His dad was the opposite of Babis [the Greek shortening for Charalampos] – he was a very disciplined centre-back,” says Giannakopoulos. “His brother [Konstantinos Kostoulas] plays in the same position for Crete.
“When it comes down to it, everybody can see the way you played your football, and say you were a good player.
“But for me, football is all about character. This is what counts more for me. His father was a great character.
“They’re a great family, and that has rubbed off on the boys. You can see that in the way they play and the way they act.
“He’s not flying in the clouds after one great performance, or a goal against Arsenal. He has got his feet firmly on the floor – exactly where they should be.”
Dabizas believes that both Kostoulas and Tzolis are in exactly the right place for their development.
“Kostoulas came through the Olympiakos team that won the Champions League in under-19s football [in 2023-24],” he says.
“To do that as a team from Greece against the biggest names in European football – that’s an incredible achievement. But to develop, you need to go abroad, you need minutes at the very top level.
“You look across Europe and see that Brighton is a club that does things the right way. They bring in young players, they develop them, they give them time and opportunity. The manager obviously has faith in him.
“As a player he has a bit of attitude and I like that, I think you need that, especially as a young guy in the Premier League.
“Tzolis has done the right thing throughout his career as well. He went to Norwich as a very young guy and found it difficult but I think that was inevitable.
Tzolis in action during Greece’s win over Germany (Photo: Getty)
“He was in a side that was always going to spend more time defending than attacking.
“When you’re a young guy [Tzolis was just 19 when he arrived at Carrow Road] that’s tough.
“But he went away, got experience in Germany and then Belgium and then came back to the Premier League as a much more rounded player.
“To come straight into this Arsenal and get into the first team immediately tells you everything you need to know.
“I won’t say that this is a Golden Generation of Greek players – I know you love that description in England – but it’s a very good generation.
“And they’re playing the kind of football that Greek sides haven’t traditionally played in the past.
“That’s exciting, not just for the fans but for these players as well.”
Bigger tests await, not just at club level on the international stage, with Greece having failed to qualify for a major tournament since 2014.
By the time the group stage is over, Greece – currently ranked 46 in the world – should have a better idea of their global standing.
For Tzolis and Kostoulas, though, the only way is up.
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Whither Pep Guardiola in the post Manchester City universe? The problem with cheating is it burns everything to the ground, reputations uppermost in the ledger of loss.
Guardiola has said nothing since the devastating verdict leaked last week. His loyalty to the regime was absolute. And since he remains a City ambassador following his departure in May, the silence will likely continue until City’s fate is formally revealed.
Only the first three years of the Guardiola decade overlapped with the 2009-2018 period under investigation. He was, however, in post for the entirety of the four-year investigation, which launched in 2018, and the subsequent hearing to consider the 115 charges relating to breaches of the Premier League’s financial regulations.
Thirty-five of those charges were effectively cases of the same offence, failing to cooperate with the investigation. The silence to which Guardiola has contributed since the verdict broke feels wearily consistent with the spirit of City’s routed defence.
It is self-evident that Guardiola’s achievements are in the bin. His apologists, led by ultra dim loyalists like Liam Gallagher and former player Rodri, seek to break the connection between illegal wealth and results.
“If you’re telling me that, because of some sponsorship deal that was signed nearly 15 years ago, the four in a row and Istanbul and all of those things now mean nothing… then you’re being hysterical,” bleated the Beswick supernova.
Former player Rodri insists the club are innocent of any wrongdoing (Photo: Getty)
Rodri was similarly aligned. “What we did, they cannot take it out of us. It is something that is not paid by money, it is paid with effort, with partnership and with being shoulder to shoulder every day,” he said, ignoring the connection between the quality of the participants involved and the cost of buying them.
Of course Rodri sits outside the investigated period, but his achievements and those of Guardiola are indelibly linked since they rest on the shoulders of the damned. Guardiola is doubly cooked because of his uncritical acceptance of all he was told.
He behaved like a medieval courtier, blindly trumpeting the truth as laid out by the Abu Dhabi state. He was steadfast in the veracity of that message, a willing dupe in the employ and at the service of a regime that cynically manipulated the rules.
“Because you believe in your club and the people there. I believe what they say to me and the reasons why,” Guardiola said after the charges were brought.
The same message echoed after his exit was announced in February this year. “Because you believe in your club and the people there. I believe what they say to me and the reasons why.”
His dubious attachment deepens the stain, eating at the purity of the product. The undeniable beauty of Guardiola’s team must now be reconsidered and ultimately devalued by the rigged nature of its design.
A total of £1.23bn was spent on 76 transfers in the period 2009-2018, including the transformative signings of Sergio Aguero, scorer of the goal that sealed victory against Queens Park Rangers in 2012 to earn the first title of the Abu Dhabi reign, Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, John Stones, Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva, Ederson and Aymeric Laporte. It was upon these foundations that Guardiola’s tainted empire was built.
Plausible denial is not innocence but collusion, the more surprising given Guardiola’s predilection for a soap box when protesting against the appalling treatment of the vulnerable in various conflicts around the world.
City and Guardiola continue to barricade themselves behind process, insisting nothing is decided until a formal verdict is handed down, and even that is subject to appeal. That might work for them but offers little protection outside the City bubble, where sentiment is shaped like a sword, suspended above their heads by the thinnest of threads.
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Manchester City could face compensation claims from players and managers who missed out on Champions League and title bonuses as part of a legal bill that could run to hundreds of millions.
City say the “process remains ongoing” but the ramifications if the verdict stands are huge.
Sanctions will be decided in the coming weeks – with the Premier League and City able to make representations to the panel – but as well as possible points deductions and huge fines, the club could be liable to compensation claims.
So far, Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal are the four clubs that have “reserved the right” to seek compensation if the verdict is upheld.
Enzo Maresca only joined City last summer after leaving Chelsea (Photo: Getty)
But legal experts have told The i Paper that others could yet decide to join in – and that players and managers of rival clubs who missed out on bonuses may also have a claim. Rio Ferdinand and David De Gea have already – perhaps tongue-in-cheek – speculated that they may be awarded titles for the era in question.
Clubs may have been emboldened by Burnley, who won £35m after taking action against Everton for a financial breach in the 2021-22 season.
Burnley argued Everton’s transgression had a direct impact on their chances of staying in the Premier League and, after assembling data to back up the case that the breach had a material impact on the final placings, won.
Everton are appealing the decision, but Burnley’s success illustrated that a theoretical case based on “loss of chance” can prevail.
The clubs that could be entitled to millions
Tottenham are among the clubs seeking legal advice over compensation (Photo: Getty)
United (twice, in 2012 and 2018) and Liverpool (in 2014) were denied the title, but Tottenham missed out on Champions League qualification between 2011 and 2013 and that could actually prove to be a more lucrative claim. Football finance expert Kieran Maguire believes Spurs could be looking at a claim of around £50m for lost revenue.
“Overall, the bill could be hundreds of millions if you look at the number of clubs involved,” Maguire told The i Paper.
“You would calculate the size of the claim by looking at the rewards of qualifying for the Champions League and the potential prize money. For winning the Champions League it is €150m. It’s €40m for the Europa League, so you would look at the amount potentially lost by competing in one competition rather than the other.
“Some clubs who finished fifth will be looking at a minimum of €50m claim for loss of prize money.
“Then you could legitimately say that instead of hosting Bayern Munich or Real Madrid on a Wednesday night, we ended up hosting the second-best team in Denmark on a Thursday night, so our gate receipts were down. Bonuses from sponsors are down too. All of that goes into the claims.
“I think individual clubs’ claims could exceed the amount Burnley settled for.”
Players could also mount claims
Rio Ferdinand joked he should be given another Premier League winners’ medal (Photo: Getty)
While clubs might end up looking to negotiate a settlement – which happened between Leeds and Everton in 2024 over the latter’s financial breach – there is also the possibility that players look at claiming for missed revenue during the period.
“At present it’s seen as a remote chance but could players on an individual or class action basis take action based on bonuses missed out on?” Maguire said.
“I’ve seen contracts with a 25 per cent pay rise for playing in the Champions League. A player on £4m-a-year has been denied £1m. If there’s 25 people in the squad, that potentially adds up.
“By the time you take into account individual clubs and players over a long period of time, you could be talking nine figures.”
The i Paper has been told that plenty of clubs are talking to lawyers even though – so far – only four have sent City Football Group notice of their intention to bring a claim.
But another source said that litigation could be costly and time-consuming, and most would only proceed if they felt they had a “slam dunk” against City.
‘It could be years of case after case’
While there is little sympathy for City among leading executives at other clubs, with some expressing relief that the end game may well be in sight, there are many who are concerned about how the footballing discourse in this country could become a “legal mess”.
The general “murky nature” of the charges will make any legal action hard to define. The fact that City are set to be found guilty of varying infringements will only complicate things further.
“It could be years of case after case,” one source close to senior figures at a top Premier League club tells The i Paper. “Of course, if you can get your hands on extra millions in compensation, you will take it. Especially if it is at City’s expense.
“The worry is that so many will try their hand, even when there isn’t really a proper case to make, and clog up the legal system. It could take years for all the cases to be seen.”
Suing for loss of Champions League earnings could be a more straightforward one, given it was City keeping teams out. The same can be said for loss of prize money for Premier League placings.
But relegated clubs will be eyeing their slice of the pie too, some suggest, if they are willing to go all the way to the courts.
“I imagine it is incredibly hard to prove, but given the financial struggles at Championship clubs, teams relegated after defeats to City or those who lost several key players to City in that period may be considering action,” a source who has worked at a relegated Premier League team tells The i Paper.
“It may be an issue of quickly examining the possibility, but some will be more persistent than others. It could become a bit of a free-for-all.”
The surprising mood inside rival Premier League clubs
Bitter rivals United are also understood to be considering their options (Photo: Getty)
Perhaps because of how long the case has dragged on for – or maybe because many of the executives, players and officials directly impacted by City in the period under investigation are no longer in the same roles – it has felt like there is little “glee” in the wider football world.
Despite the “seismic” nature of the initial verdict – which, City say, is not the end of the process – the mood inside rival clubs feels less triumphant than it was among supporters on Friday.
“It’s good that justice is seen to be done but there’s no winners here, only losers,” was how one Premier League executive described the feelings in his club.
They pointed out that while City should be punished if found guilty, they were not the only club they felt were pushing the regulations to breaking point. Intra-club swap deals and mutually beneficial transfers were mentioned as areas that the Premier League had not managed to get a grip on.
Another high-ranking official The i Paper spoke to said that he wanted any appeal process to be “time-barred” and said the City verdict rumbling for another two to three years was “bad for business”.
“This process has already taken too long. It needs to be expedited in whatever way it can be,” they said.
There is both relief and apprehension about Friday’s revelations. Clubs at all levels are still taking in the gravity of it all, and what it means for them.
“It is hardly surprising news,” one Premier League insider tells The i Paper. “The question is, how valid is it all? We still haven’t heard from the Premier League, which is bringing the case. Has everyone jumped the gun?
“City’s stance perhaps suggests that is the case. But I guess they would say that.”
There is still a general weariness with this case. The fact it has dragged on so long has infuriated rivals, to the extent where they never believed a verdict would ever come.
Last week’s development restored the faith in the case for some, but for others it was not enough.
“What has changed, really?” another source who works with Premier League clubs tells The i Paper. “We are being told that the appeals process could take years. If anything, we just got a reminder of how frustrating this case is.”
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Swansea City were stuck. Over the last five completed seasons, they have finished between 10th and 15th in the Championship. They earned between 57 and 66 points each time and had a goal difference that ranged from +4 to -10. They never once got beyond the fourth round of a cup competition.
What happens when Championship clubs get stuck in mid-table? They lose money to go nowhere. It is worse even than going down and up because at least that allows some budget restructuring.
You do not want to give up your place, but the only eventuality is throwing money at something your fanbase is uninspired by. In 2024-25, attendances fell to their lowest since 2010.
Some of that atrophy was a product of external influence, the state of the game. Much else was self-inflicted, apathy on prescription delivered by Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan. The then-owners had overseen relegation and then stagnation. Their investment, beyond keeping the thing ticking over, drifted.
So Swansea’s league position began to feel like their only existence. At the last count they lost £22m and had the third lowest revenue in the division. Commercial revenue went down by £1.9m.
The Swans’ average attendance is at its highest in seven years (Photo: PA)
Matchday revenue was in the Championship’s bottom three because they had the fourth lowest attendances, but nobody could justify expansion and the stadium did not belong to the club anyway.
On a bottom-half wage bill, Swansea had the fourth worst wage-to-revenue ratio. That was the bleakest part of finishing in mid-table – it actually represented overachievement by most measures. The ceiling gets lower and the floor shifts with it. To repeat: Swansea needed a change.
Few EFL clubs look and feel more different to two years ago. In November 2024, Levien and Kaplan sold up to allow fellow Americans Andy Coleman and Brett Cravatt to take over as majority shareholders. They also partnered with Shamrock Capital, an investment firm in Los Angeles, to add further investment.
The commercial revenue issue was attacked with a call for minority celebrity investment that makes Luka Modric, Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart part-owners of the club. It may sound a little gauche, but it also works to increase a club’s global profile. Just ask the Championship club in north Wales.
Coleman and Cravatt have vastly increased the spend on the playing squad. Before last summer, Bernat Celina in 2018 was Swansea’s last signing for £3m or more. They signed two above that figure last year and five more this summer.
It was the second highest net spend in the division even considering the sale of Ethan Galbraith for £10m. Who was first? Just ask the Championship club in north Wales.
Vitor Matos has impressed during his time on the south coast of Wales (Photo: PA)
You can raise concerns about the level of that spending given the previous annual losses, but then the Championship is a division taglined by the mantra of “speculate to accumulate”.
If Swansea, with their wage bill and their resources, want to break out of the funk quickly then incoming transfers are the most likely route.
And it is an exciting squad, particularly in the final third. Last season’s Championship top scorer Zan Vipotnik is competing with Adam Idah and Ross Stewart (a free transfer arrival from Southampton) is due back from injury soon. Moussa Yeo (signed from RB Salzburg) is on one wing and either Melker Widell or Joseph Opoku on the other.
Elijah Just, starter of New Zealand’s World Cup campaign, joined from Motherwell and can play just behind the striker. Jeremy Monga signed from Manchester City on loan and can’t even get on the bench.
Manager Vitor Matos, appointed last November after only 12 games as a head coach in Portugal, was a significant gamble but is paying off.
He prefers attacking, front-footed football, refuses to sit back on leads or discuss the league table, and has Swansea top of the Championship. It is a remarkable turnaround in performance and mood.
Off the pitch, Swansea appointed Ben Stevens this summer as their new sporting director. Stevens had been an assistant in the same role at Crystal Palace, but had worked for a decade in the club’s recruitment and performance analysis departments.
Zan Vipotnik was last season’s top scorer in the second tier of English football (Photo: PA)
And, speaking of recruitment, that is where Swansea may well have supercharged their future.
Jamestown Analytics is the data model created by Tony Bloom and used by Brighton for their own recruitment and player analysis, to impressive effect. It has also been used by Union Saint-Gilloise (sister club of Brighton) to fuel a league title win, Hearts (sister club of Brighton) to fuel a title challenge and Como to fuel Champions League qualification.
“Swansea City now has access to world-leading, industry-renowned expertise that can help the club work as efficiently as possible in our player trading model,” as the club’s welcome statement read.
Last summer they signed one player from abroad. This summer, players based in Belgium, Austria, Sweden and Portugal joined and all are aged 20-23.
I do not know if Jamestown Analytics is powering the start to this season. It seems a stretch given the nascent nature of the relationship, although Yeo has been excellent.
I do not know if Swansea can keep this up, with the parachute clubs circling with deeper, stronger squads. I do not know if the player trading model can work in the Championship, given the financial gap to the division above.
But I know this: it is going to be fascinating to find out.
Swansea have effectively tried to cherry pick the best bits of multiple models: the celebrity investment of Wrexham, the counter-pressing of Jurgen Klopp, the sporting director from the Premier League, the data model that has powered the most impressive football club growth in England over the last 15 years.
Most important of all, the Swans are not stuck anymore. Attendances are at their highest since the first season following Premier League relegation.
Supporters are enthused by something different and the bubbling suspicion that something special may be building. It is exciting, it is fun and nobody quite knows where it will lead. And that is just about all you can ever ask for.
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