Manchester City and PSG have had their restrictions on transfer spending and Champions League squad size lifted, Uefa has announced.
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Manchester City and PSG were sanctioned by UEFA last year to play in Champions League with only 21 players in the squad, four fewer than usual, and spending on new signings in last summera s transfer window was capped at A?49m as punishment for breaching FFP rules.
The clubs also agreed that total wages last seasona s Champions League squad must not exceed that of the 2013-14 season.
Both, PSG and City were also fined A?16.3m a year for three years totalling A?49m but only the first yeara s fine has been imposed. Citya s and PSG’s settlement agreement with Uefa means they still have to hit targets they agreed with the European governing body for 2016 but Uefaa s club financial control body has announced the lifting of the restrictions for both the clubs.
This news will be viewed by skeptics, who have argued that Uefa will not impose the FFP as strictly as it should, with grim view.
To put things into perspective, City and PSG have grown their brand manifold by now after spending millions and winning titles and have just paid a 16.3 million GBP price for it.
Liverpool FC owner John Henry has been a big advocate of the FFP and has made it very clear that it was Uefa’s FFP plans that attracted him to get into football club ownership. It remains to be seen what the Liverpool FC owner makes of this move which effectively sends the message that Uefa is not looking to severely punish breach of FFP rules.
While the Liverpool owners are for FFP, Chelsea FC manager Jose Mourinho has claimed that Uefa’s financial fair play regulations have given Manchester United an advantage and turned Chelsea into a selling club.
Manchester United recently posted a record 159 billion Euro profit. The club, as per FFP, are in a very strong position to spend money on players as compared to Chelsea FC, who risk sanctions by UEFA if they spend anywhere near the same amount of money as Manchester United given that their revenue is nowhere close.
However, citing how Uefa has dealt with City and PSG, Chelsea FC can feel fairly safe that they do not need to worry about sanctions that will severely hamper the club.
Paul Pogba, Angel Di Maria, Antoine Griezmann are the players on the radars of PSG, Manchester City, and Chelsea FC as per credible reports in England, Italy, and Spain. And now, with the purse string loosened, we could get to hear some big news in coming weeks on these players.