What £712m Manchester City figure really says about Pep Guardiola pressure

Only two Premier League teams have published the financial results for the 2023/24 reporting period, but the crown for the club with the highest revenue won’t be going to anyone else but Manchester City.

While the reigning Premier League champions are currently enduring a tough time on the pitch, the success of the club in recent seasons has been nothing short of phenomenal, with last season’s Premier League triumph making it an unprecedented fourth in a row.

The 2023/24 season was also on the back of a remarkable campaign at home and abroad, with the club having won the Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup. That success, particularly with the riches that came with the Champions League through prize money and broadcasting, super-charged City’s finances.

The 2023/24 financials show a financially robust club. The independent commission hearing into the 115 charges brought by the Premier League against the club over allegations of breaching financial rules for a decade-long period, which the club denies, would, of course, alter the longer term outlook and significantly impact revenue streams, but the accounts look at a snapshot in time, and City are innocent until proven otherwise.

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The financials showed a record turnover of £715m, up a rather modest £2m year on year. But any increase in revenue at all was quite some feat given the success of the previous financial year and the fact that City exited the Champions League at the quarter-final stage, thus missing out on broadcast revenues and prize money associated with further progression.

Wages fell by