Man City chief fires warning to Premier League over 'restrictions' ahead of seismic legal action

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak warned Premier League clubs to expect a quieter summer transfer window as the impact of Premier League regulations hit.

City are taking action against the Premier League over revised Associated Party Transaction rules that they believe to be unlawful and anti-competitive, with a hearing starting next week to assess their claim. The theme of unfair restrictions was also brought up by Al Mubarak in his annual interview, conducted before bombshell news of the hearing broke.

Without talking about any specific regulations, the City chairman spoke of how the Premier League has gained its reputation as the best league in Europe and called on more 'sensible' regulating to allow teams to act as they have previously. If the changes from the last 12 months are upheld, Al Mubarak believes that clubs will not be as active in the summer window as they have been.

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“I think the Premier League got to where it is today by being the most competitive league. So, I hope there is a bit more sensibility in regulating," he said.

"Always a balanced approach is good from all the leagues, be it in England or the rest of Europe. I think you won’t see the same level as we’ve seen in the last years, because of the levels of regulations that have come into place over the last 12 months.

"There’s also been a lot of restrictions now put in place on swaps and loans, so even that is now much more restricted. So, I think the level of manoeuvrability that was in place before that allowed teams to do what they were able to do in the past, I think, is much