Should Arsenal benefit if Manchester City are punished?

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·30 September 2026

Should Arsenal benefit if Manchester City are punished? – Opinion

Manchester City’s 115 financial rule breach case is, in my opinion, the worst economic scandal football has ever seen to date.

It just goes to show how little respect some owners can have for the game when there is so much money involved and how corrupt it can become. If you thought FIFA were bad, think again!

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I can’t believe just how bad it has become, with the violation of rules and the domination of the sport built on what feels like an illusion of greed and power which has now caught up with them.

For myself and millions of others who have grown up loving the beautiful game, and can only really remember the Citizens being the team to beat, it feels like a complete sham and a violation of the game which seriously upsets me.

The so-called Super League felt drastic and isolating as a fan, and fortunately never happened because I believe the game would have been killed off in terms of competition. Arsenal were involved with that too, but this feels unprecedented in all the wrong ways.

Football needs greater internal and external regulation to ensure that something like this never happens again. That is easier said than done, but I’m not 100 per cent sure how else it could be prevented.

To some extent, I now feel that Arsenal should be handed the Premier League titles from the two years Manchester City held them when we finished runners-up in 2023 and 2024, as well as the League Cup they beat us in.

I felt differently about this earlier on when less information was available, but now, knowing how serious the situation is, I don’t think that would necessarily be wrong.

Even though I know many will disagree with me on this, with the evolving nature of the game, I also believe a transfer cap should be set on how much a club can spend.

It is all out of proportion, and hardly any of the clubs outside the top six can compete with this level of financial power.

In my opinion, Manchester City should be placed in the National League, although I deeply empathise with their fans who, like any supporters, would welcome large amounts of money coming into their club.

We’ve seen recently with Welsh side Wrexham how investment can transform a club from Non-League to the Championship, but in my opinion City’s crimes fit the punishment.

What has happened is disgusting.

I believe this is a matter which other clubs should refrain from commenting on unless required because the situation couldn’t be any worse and serves no outfit well unless concrete action and consequences are part of the process.

(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Arsenal have had to do things the hard way

Admittedly, it has been frustrating to wait and see Arsenal win the Premier League for the first time this year in a generation, but they at least did it against the odds.

When Arsenal had to move to the Emirates from Highbury, which was highly costly, we saw the club having to sell our best players, hardly making a profit, just to survive and rebuild, while City also bought half our starting XI across a few years.

Arsenal, Arsene Wenger and Mikel Arteta have shown that “The Arsenal way” is the best way in current times against the odds – with a biased tinge there, to say the least.

We can only hope that justice prevails with this colossal matter.

Not only is the Arsenal fanbase watching, but people at all levels of football, within sport and outside it too.

Liam Harding

What do you think should happen next? Should Arsenal ever be awarded honours retrospectively, or should trophies won on the pitch remain in the history books regardless of what happens off it? Let us know in the comments below.

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