Well it was fun while it lasted, the closest three-way race for the Premier League in history, a title challenge as exciting as anything you will see on Netflix. It’s not over yet but it certainly feels like it. With six games to play, there’s still many a slip… But deep down even their most ardent supporters find it hard to see Arsenal or Liverpool getting past the seemingly unstoppable Manchester City now.
It’s amazing what you can do when you’re owned by one of the richest countries on the planet
City have another stage in their haul of silverware in their sights on Saturday with an FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea at Wembley. Chelsea could be brilliant or rubbish or anywhere in between. City are likely to field a second-string side, having bigger fish to fry. But a second-string City is much better than most teams.
City are a beautiful team to watch. They could even rest Rodri, their best player, at the weekend and still dismantle Luton 5-1. How do they do it? A brilliant rotation policy, razor-eyed ruthlessness and some of world’s best players: it’s amazing what you can do when you’re owned by one of the richest countries on the planet and managed by the best coach.
Even so, the most devoted City fan should be getting slightly twitchy as an extremely large elephant is beginning to make its way into the room. City face more than 100 charges of breaching financial fair play rules over the nine-year period 2009-18, as well as several breaches of the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR), 2015-18. The charges relate to a variety of issues including sponsorship revenue, ‘operating costs’ and a few questions over Roberto Mancini’s pay packet.
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