Manchester City's ongoing battle with the Premier League centres on the outstanding 115 charges of alleged financial breaches - but there are more disagreements between the league and its current champions.
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Premier League CEO Richard Masters congratulates Pep Guardiola on Manchester City winning the title in 2022
Premier League CEO Richard Masters with Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola
(Image: Visionhaus/Getty Images)
You will have heard that Manchester City and the Premier League are at war.
That war is, mostly, around those 115 charges that the Premier League brought against its champions in 2023 (before City forced embarrassing scenes for the league by winning the next two titles as well).
Then there is the legal battle over Associated Party Transaction rules, with both parties claiming some sort of victory. Although City say they won because an independent tribunal found that the APT rules were unlawful, the Premier League are talking like they've won because they've subsequently changed those unlawful rules (because they were unlawful).
That gives an unsavoury look into the future when the 115 charges verdict drops in the coming weeks or months. Whatever the result, both sides will tell us they've still done nothing wrong and are the real winners.
But the disagreements don't end there, as City and Pep Guardiola keep reminding the Premier League of their unwillingness to help them at the start of next season.
With the Blues and Chelsea representing the Premier League in the FIFA Club World Cup in June and July, Guardiola isn't happy with the league over the start of the 2025/26 campaign.
"The Premier League has not allowed us to postpone the first two games for our recovery," said Guardiola in October. "Thank you so much.
"I think the club asked the league to postpone one or two or three weeks so we can have a holiday after the [Club] World Cup but it is absolutely not allowed. The Premier League say yes to us? No. Absolutely not."
Whether a formal request was made is unclear, but history suggests the Premier League have helped its clubs in similar situations before. When City and Manchester United were involved in the extended Champions League and Europa League 'Super Eight' competitions after the 2019/20 season was delayed, the Premier League allowed both clubs to start the 2020/21 season a week after their rivals.
But not this time. City could be playing in the USA until July 13 and starting the next season on August 16, with player unions saying players need a minimum of four weeks off between seasons before pre-season campaigns begin or a potential Community Shield clash a week earlier is considered.
A host of City players have complained about the expanding schedule and the consensus is that there is too much football. The injury crisis this year can be put down to the relentless schedule over the past four or five years, since that Covid restart.
Guardiola has brought up the disagreement with the Premier League a few times since, and isn't afraid of taking aim at other authorities who schedule games without care for his players. He was furious when last season's FA Cup semi-final was scheduled just three days after the Champions League semi-final.
So with City in the middle of a 12-month season, players then face an 11-month season if they are involved in the 2026 World Cup.
Guardiola is likely to keep banging the drum in defence of his players - and if that widens the gap between the club and the Premier League, it's not like the two organisations are particularly close anyway.