Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano says they will “rise to future opportunities and challenges” after the club posted the largest revenues in English football history.
City’s turnover for last season when they lifted a record fourth straight Premier League title increased to £715 million, a small uplift of £2.2 million on the previous year when the club won the Treble of Premier League title, Champions League and FA Cup.
Profits for the year to June 30, 2024 were £73.8 million mean the club has posted profits of almost £200m over the past four seasons.
City’s wage bill dropped from £422.9 million to £412.6 million while the club made a profit of £139 million from player sales. It took the total profit from player sales over the previous eight seasons to £549.2 million.
Commercial income accounted for almost 50 per cent of turnover at £344.7 million with broadcast revenues of £294.7 million and matchday income at £75.6 million. City’s staff numbers swelled from 520 in the previous year to 611 last season.
The results come as City - who are in the midst of a crisis on the pitch after seven defeats in the last 10 games - gear up next year for the outcome of their bitter legal battle with the Premier League over allegations of financial doping and other regulation breaches.
City, who strenuously deny any wrongdoing, have been charged with an unprecedented catalogue of 115 allegations spread over 14 seasons, including a series of charges of subverting the regulations by failing to provide accurate financial information.
The hearing into the case, which began on September 16 and was held at the International Dispute Resolution Centre near St Paul’s in London, concluded last Friday. A decision is expected in the spring, most likely around March.
Neither Soriano nor Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the City chairman, made any reference to the case in their statements which accompanied the publication of the club’s latest accounts.
But Soriano - having hailed City’s fourth consecutive title win - signed off in his comments by saying: “We have achieved a lot of success together and together we will rise to future opportunities and challenges.”
Addressing last season’s success, Soriano said: “We understand very well that the relentless pursuit of beautiful football, operational excellence and constant innovation requires hard work and resilience. We embrace the challenges, learn from the difficulties and defeats and we do it together.”
Al-Mubarak said City’s “constant ambition to target and achieve the unprecedented is a mark of the organisation that we have become”.
He added: “On and off the field, our passion for the next challenge is underpinned by deliberate and detailed planning and a shared belief in the collaborative learning culture that we have built.”