When Sheikh Mansour completed his takeover in September 2008, Manchester City were a club with two top-flight titles in their 114-year history, having finished ninth in 2007/08. The club had suffered relegation three times in the Premier League era. In the nine-year period covered by the Premier League's investigation, City won three Premier League titles, more than doubling their previous tally.

An independent commission has determined there were serious breaches of financial rules, including 'sham' contracts and artificial inflation of revenues by £830m. The 'disguised funding scheme' involved City's Abu Dhabi United Group owners paying huge sponsorship fees recorded as commercial revenue. Between the summer of 2009 and the 2018 January transfer window, the club spent £1.2bn on players, nearly £300m more than next-highest spenders Chelsea.

City ranked top for transfer spending among Premier League clubs in five of the nine seasons covered by the investigation. The club deny all wrongdoing and intend to appeal the decision.