'Everyone knew': Canadian men's coach Jesse Marsch calls for Manchester City's relegation

Canadian men's soccer coach ​Jesse Marsch has called for Manchester City to be punished severely over breaches of Premier League financial rules, saying his experience managing against the club left him convinced there were inconsistencies in the way it operated.

City was found ‌guilty of serious breaches of Premier League financial rules over nine seasons from 2009-10 to 2017-18, with the league alleging the club used "sham" commercial contracts to inflate revenue and understate costs by more than 900 million pounds ($1.19 billion US).

The ​club has denied wrongdoing, saying the verdict contained material ​errors of law, principle and fact, and filed an appeal on Thursday against the independent commission ruling.

Marsch, who managed Leeds United from 2022 to ​2023, said the disparity between the clubs had been apparent to him ⁠during his time in ⁠England.

"I think Man City should be punished severely. ‌I think they should have to go down, and by the way, everyone knew about it. Everyone knew," Marsch told the Guardian in an interview published on Sunday.

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Marsch also pointed to the 2022 summer transfer window, when Leeds sold ⁠Raphinha to Barcelona and Kalvin Phillips to City, while both clubs reported making money.

"That summer (2022), us and Man City were the only teams that said we made money. For us, we did ‌make money, because we sold Raphinha, we sold Kalvin Phillips. We had a lot left over from what we bought," he said.

"At the time, we weren't in a position financially to not save. Our ownership didn't have deep pockets.