When the Premier League returns this weekend, the spotlight will fall on one game in particular: Manchester City's trip to Anfield. Before that huge match, City's players will arrive back from international duty and step straight into an off-field fight that has turned into a media frenzy.
The allegations seem relentless, with finger-pointing from every Tom, Dick and Harry jumping on the bandwagon to hammer a club that has dominated the Premier League for over a decade. Yet the club has remained firm in denying all charges. So where does this leave Enzo Maresca and his players as they prepare to take on Liverpool? Although the players themselves have not been involved in any of the allegations about breaking the Premier League's financial rules, supporters at every away ground will be baying for their blood. Maresca must first reassure his players that the club will not step back from defending its own position, or the position of its players, staff and supporters. After that, every player should concentrate on what they are paid to do, which is to win games. No excuses about what is happening off the field would be tolerated.
If the verdict on City's financial breaches is upheld, it will come at a heavy cost to the club and its reputation. More attention needs to be paid to the rules and their fairness, because top-level football is now dominated by massive financial investment. Around a billion pounds can change hands in a single transfer window, while smaller academies are plundered by bigger clubs who sign young players for modest compensation fees and sell them on for far more, without any Financial Fair Play regulation of the profit.
Clubs have broken FFP rules over many years, and the question is whether the current rules are right or whether clubs will simply find loopholes. The money in the game is extraordinary, and the days of local owners buying local clubs are gone. Smart operators such as Tony Bloom at Brighton and Matthew Benham at Brentford are among the last of their kind, and it is important there is a way for clubs without big budgets or big histories to play a leading role in the top flight.
Source: BBC Sport Football · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing