Which clubs did Man City's 'inflated' money flow to in transfer market?, tell me about this news today
03-10-2026
Recent findings by an independent commission determined that Manchester City breached financial regulations by artificially inflating commercial revenue and concealing costs by more than £830 million (over €900 million) between 2009 and 2018. By masking owner equity injections as legitimate commercial sponsorships from entities tied to the Abu Dhabi United Group, the club created artificial headroom under Premier League and UEFA Financial Fair Play rules.
This fabricated spending power allowed Manchester City to spend over €1.5 billion gross in transfer fees during that nine-year investigation window alone. The clubs that directly received these inflated funds span both domestic rivals and major European sides:
Domestic Rivals (Premier League)A significant portion of City’s early spending directly dismantled domestic competitors:
Arsenal: Benefited from over £70 million in early fees, selling key core players including Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Touré, Samir Nasri, and Gaël Clichy.
Aston Villa: Received major windfalls through sales of Gareth Barry, James Milner, and later Fabian Delph (and eventually Jack Grealish for £100m).
Everton: Collected approximately £70 million through high-profile defensive purchases, notably Joleon Lescott and John Stones.
Liverpool: Received around £49 million in 2015 for Raheem Sterling.
Tottenham Hotspur: Cashed in roughly £50 million for Kyle Walker in the summer of 2017.
Swansea City: Received £28 million for striker Wilfried Bony in 2015.
City used its artificial revenue ceiling to outbid European powerhouses for marquee talent across the continent:
VfL Wolfsburg (Germany): Received approximately £55 million for Kevin De Bruyne in 2015, alongside an earlier £27 million fee for Edin Džeko in 2011.
Atlético Madrid (Spain): Collected £38 million for Sergio Agüero in 2011, providing pivotal liquidity that helped fund Atlético’s own squad rebuild under Diego Simeone.
Valencia CF (Spain): Brought in significant capital through the sales of David Silva and Nicolás Otamendi.
AS Monaco (France): Received nearly £100 million in a single window (summer 2017) for Bernardo Silva and Benjamin Mendy.
Athletic Bilbao (Spain): Triggered Aymeric Laporte’s full release clause of £57 million in January 2018.
Benfica and Porto (Portugal): Secured lucrative fees for Ederson, Javi García, Fernando, and Eliaquim Mangala (over £40 million).
Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine): Received approximately £34 million for Fernandinho in 2013.
Inter Milan and Roma (Italy): Collected fees for Mario Balotelli and Aleksandar Kolarov, respectively.
While the selling clubs booked legitimate transfer profits to reinvest into their own squads, the findings confirm that City was only able to finance these deals and pay accompanying wages because their spending capacity was engineered beyond the actual revenues the club generated organically.