Man City have seen fundamental difference with rivals exposed by leak

Manchester City are trying to overturn Premier League regulations on Associated Party Transaction rules over the next few weeks.

A top story in The Times detailed how the Blues have described the rules around fair market value for sponsorship deals with companies linked to club owners as unlawful and anti-competitive, although unfortunately it does not state what exact rules City have the problem with. Given the fact that there was little dissent when they were first introduced in 2021 and that UEFA have introduced similar proposals, it would be more credible to believe City's problem is with the latest measures introduced in February this year.

One of many interesting points around what is in isolation a very dull topic is the idea of competition, and which side teams fall on it. City are in favour of less regulation and more freedom, but reportedly have very little support from other Premier League clubs.

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That would tally with a similar proposal on anchoring: an idea put forward that top clubs would only be able to spend a multiple of the revenue generated by the bottom club in the league. It would punish clubs for generating more revenue than they were able to spend, but the restrictions would make the league more competitive.

Sixteen clubs voted to put this to further analysis in a vote at the end of April, with City one of the minority voting against. If it looks a surprise to see other leading teams happy to put themselves at a disadvantage, it becomes less unusual when factoring in that Chelsea, Liverpool, United and Arsenal all have majority owners from