A Great Era Ruined
Pep Guardiola won 16 major trophies during his ten years as Manchester City manager before leaving last summer. His achievements included a historic treble and becoming the first English club to win four consecutive league titles. However, these successes now count for nothing.
The Premier League found the club guilty of more than 100 breaches of financial rules between 2009 and 2018. An independent commission condemned the club's actions as systematic rule breaking. Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane commented on the situation, saying, "They won it on the pitch because cheating was going on." While City plan to appeal and claim they are innocent, the damage to Guardiola's legacy is already done.
Building the Machine
The investigation revealed that Manchester City's owners artificially inflated sponsorship revenues by 830 million pounds between 2009 and 2018. This financial doping grew heavily from the 2012 season onward.
In the season before Guardiola arrived, the club received an extra 120.17 million pounds in unreported funding. This money helped City sign Kevin De Bruyne for 55 million pounds and Raheem Sterling for 49 million pounds. When Guardiola finally arrived in 2016, the squad was already prepared for him using these illegal funds. The rule breaking payments continued during his tenure, reaching 129.59 million pounds in his first season and 134.73 million pounds in the 2017 season.
The Manager's Defence
Guardiola was already a highly respected coach before moving to England, having won league titles with Barcelona and Bayern Munich. His tactical genius is undeniable, but his squad at City was built by breaking the rules repeatedly.
Guardiola has defended the club, stating that he trusts the owners. He also claimed that none of his players or staff were at the club when the rules were broken. However, this is incorrect, as Guardiola and his coaching staff were actively managing the team during the rule breaking years of 2016, 2017, and 2018.
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