Man City post £97.9m as yearly loss

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 09: A Manchester City fan takes his seat early prior to the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester City and Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium on December 9, 2012 in Manchester, England.

For the second year in running, Manchester City have posted a huge year-end financial loss and could be set to come under the scanner for their financial activities once Uefa’s financial fair play rules are implemented in 2014-’15.

Announcing the figures, City said with confidence: “The application of allowable reliefs, for certain categories of expenditure and investment, position the club well for compliance with Uefa’s financial fair play rules.”

That will be assessed in the spring of 2014, so Uefa’s view will depend on these accounts, and City’s 2012-13 financial performance.

Uefa rules allow clubs in European competitions to make a total loss of €45m between 2011 and 2013, if that loss is bankrolled by an owner.

City are expected to gain an exemption based on the fact that they have reduced their losses from last year whereby they posted figures of a whopping £191m and the fact that clubs can escape if they can successfully show that the losses were due to financial investments made before 1 June 2010, something City are relying on due to high-profile signings of Lescott, Barry and Carlos Tevez.