Manchester City are not being investigated over Financial Fair Play rules following a complaint by La Liga.
The European governing body UEFA clarified its position on Monday afternoon after a statement from the Spanish league led to reports an official probe was being conducted.
That statement was made after La Liga wrote to UEFA to make a formal complaint about City and Paris Saint-Germain.
UEFA did announce last week that PSG are being investigated but Press Association Sport understands that was not prompted by La Liga’s complaint and City are certainly not being looked at.
A UEFA spokesperson said: “There is no investigation into Manchester City with regards to Financial Fair Play regulations. Any reports mentioning such an investigation are unsubstantiated.”
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Sky Sports News reported earlier on Monday that City were confident they would not face an investigation and that the club said they were not close to breaching FFP rules and would have had enough room in their budget to sign Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal in the summer.
City, who spent more than £200m in the summer transfer window, offered Arsenal £55m up front for the Chile forward on Thursday but a deal failed to materialise.
La Liga’s complaints were made in a letter on August 22. The league made public its concerns in a statement on Monday.
It read: “There will be an investigation following the formal complaint filed by LaLiga asking UEFA to inspect Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City FC for violation of financial fair play regulations.
“La Liga, the association of the best football teams in Spain, is pleased that UEFA has opened a formal investigation into financial fair play at Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).
“The investigation comes after La Liga formally requested these tests from PSG and Manchester City FC in August.”
PSG bought Neymar this summer for a world record £200m and secured another of Europe’s most highly-rated players, Kylian Mbappe, on a season-long loan. City spent £50m on Tottenham right-back Kyle Walker and £42.9m on Monaco left-back Benjamin Mendy.
La Liga claims the finances at Qatari-owned PSG and Abu Dhabi-backed Citizens “are not based on the market reality”.
LaLiga president Javier Tebas said: “The funding of PSG and Manchester City, thanks to state aid, distorts European competitions and creates an inflationary spiral that irreparably damages the football industry.”
City have been a frequent target for critics since their big-money takeover by Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008. They were punished for an FFP violation in 2014 when they were hit with a fine, transfer spending cap and a Champions League squad restriction.
In recent years, however, the club have shown strong signs of financial independence and have recorded profits in their last two financial years.
