{"id":2176666,"date":"2026-10-02T22:30:24","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T19:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2176666"},"modified":"2026-10-02T22:30:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T19:30:24","slug":"man-city-guilty-charges-which-clubs-did-inflated-money-flow-to-in-transfer-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2176666","title":{"rendered":"Man City guilty charges: Which clubs did &#8216;inflated&#8217; money flow to in transfer market?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/branded_sport\/1200\/cpsprodpb\/b049\/live\/fcba9170-bdbd-11f1-b7d8-31573a2bd831.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"ssrcss-2fe4mx-ArticleWrapper e1nh2i2l0\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-15twdc6-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<div data-block=\"headline\" class=\"ssrcss-l7emlr-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-usmnse-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<header data-testid=\"headline\">\n<h1 id=\"main-heading\" tabindex=\"-1\" class=\"ssrcss-8zqj65-Heading e10rt3ze0\"><span role=\"text\">Which clubs did Man City&#8217;s &#8216;inflated&#8217; money flow to in transfer market?<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"image\" class=\"ssrcss-l7emlr-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"ssrcss-1uy5kw5-FullWidthWrapper ep2nwvo1\">\n<figure class=\"ssrcss-hc6arm-StyledFigure e34k3c22\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-ab5fd8-StyledFigureContainer e34k3c21\"><span class=\"ssrcss-1pflr6j-Placeholder etlorgc0\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/240\/cpsprodpb\/b049\/live\/fcba9170-bdbd-11f1-b7d8-31573a2bd831.jpg.webp 240w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/320\/cpsprodpb\/b049\/live\/fcba9170-bdbd-11f1-b7d8-31573a2bd831.jpg.webp 320w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/480\/cpsprodpb\/b049\/live\/fcba9170-bdbd-11f1-b7d8-31573a2bd831.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/624\/cpsprodpb\/b049\/live\/fcba9170-bdbd-11f1-b7d8-31573a2bd831.jpg.webp 624w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/800\/cpsprodpb\/b049\/live\/fcba9170-bdbd-11f1-b7d8-31573a2bd831.jpg.webp 800w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/976\/cpsprodpb\/b049\/live\/fcba9170-bdbd-11f1-b7d8-31573a2bd831.jpg.webp 976w\" type=\"image\/webp\" \/><\/span><span role=\"text\" class=\"ssrcss-tzgxt7-StyledFigureCopyright e34k3c20\"><span class=\"visually-hidden ssrcss-i2z2ig-VisuallyHidden e16en2lz0\">Image source, <\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/div><figcaption class=\"ssrcss-3uli8u-StyledFigureCaption ehbdhz00\"><span class=\"visually-hidden ssrcss-i2z2ig-VisuallyHidden e16en2lz0\">Image caption, <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-15twdc6-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The previous clubs of Sergio Aguero, Kevin de Bruyne and Bernardo Silva all received significant transfer fees from Manchester City during their era of financial rule-breaking<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"byline\" class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"single-byline\" class=\"ssrcss-sevsa1-ContributorContainer ee66fvo3\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-dt4z-ContributorInfo ee66fvo0\"><span class=\"visually-hidden ssrcss-i2z2ig-VisuallyHidden e16en2lz0\">By<\/span><span class=\"ssrcss-nsjd43-TextContributorName epw3ir01\">Daniel Austin<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-dqo7s5-ContributorDetails ee66fvo2\"><span class=\"ssrcss-1m5444d-Text ee66fvo4\">BBC Sport senior journalist<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"metadata\" class=\"ssrcss-l7emlr-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"metadata\">\n<div>\n<ul role=\"list\" class=\"ssrcss-9tw7r1-MetadataStripContainer eh44mf03\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-10q9h22-GroupChildrenForWrapping eh44mf02\">\n<li role=\"listitem\" class=\"ssrcss-sf7vdp-MetadataStripItem eh44mf01\">\n<div class=\"visually-hidden ssrcss-i2z2ig-VisuallyHidden e16en2lz0\">Published<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-m5j4pi-MetadataContent eh44mf00\"><span class=\"ssrcss-1pvwv4b-MetadataSnippet e4wm5bw3\"><span class=\"ssrcss-61mhsj-MetadataText e4wm5bw1\"><time data-testid=\"timestamp\" datetime=\"2026-10-02T22:30:24.567Z\">4 hours ago<\/time><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/div>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"text\" class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"rich-text\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-nqezkk-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\"><b class=\"ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3\">The money flowed around football. It made a lot of other clubs richer. It helped teams everywhere and especially in the Premier League.<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">These have been some of the arguments used by those backing Manchester City in the media and online since the verdicts declaring the club guilty came in and an appeal was announced. The suggestion is that there was a net benefit to the game as a whole, and in particular the clubs to whom Manchester City paid big transfer fees.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The more than \u00a3900m by which the independent commission found the club had &#8220;inflated&#8221; its accounts was not all spent on transfer fees. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Clubs have many bills, including wages for players and other staff, utilities, insurance, infrastructure costs, commercial fees and much more.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">But the roughly \u00a31.2bn Man City spent on players between 2009-2018 (about \u00a3900m net spend) was more than anybody else in that period.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">That outlay was vital in making them England&#8217;s most successful club, and would surely have been heavily reduced had they not knowingly broken the rules, as the independent commission concluded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">So where did City&#8217;s money flow to in the transfer market, and what impact did it have?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"links\" class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1gccci3-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<ul role=\"list\" class=\"ssrcss-94r6ik-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<li class=\"ssrcss-qzx51b-LinkItem e3eyuya1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1gccci3-Stack e1y4nx260\"><span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0s6gx-LinkHeadline e3eyuya4\"><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Man City confirm appeal against guilty verdict<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<ul role=\"list\" class=\"ssrcss-9tw7r1-MetadataStripContainer eh44mf03\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-10q9h22-GroupChildrenForWrapping eh44mf02\">\n<li role=\"listitem\" class=\"ssrcss-sf7vdp-MetadataStripItem eh44mf01\">\n<div class=\"visually-hidden ssrcss-i2z2ig-VisuallyHidden e16en2lz0\">Published<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-m5j4pi-MetadataContent eh44mf00\"><span class=\"ssrcss-1pvwv4b-MetadataSnippet e4wm5bw3\"><span class=\"ssrcss-61mhsj-MetadataText e4wm5bw1\">9 hours ago<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/div>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ssrcss-qzx51b-LinkItem e3eyuya1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1gccci3-Stack e1y4nx260\"><span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0s6gx-LinkHeadline e3eyuya4\"><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Man City whistleblower to lose witness protection<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<ul role=\"list\" class=\"ssrcss-9tw7r1-MetadataStripContainer eh44mf03\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-10q9h22-GroupChildrenForWrapping eh44mf02\">\n<li role=\"listitem\" class=\"ssrcss-sf7vdp-MetadataStripItem eh44mf01\">\n<div class=\"visually-hidden ssrcss-i2z2ig-VisuallyHidden e16en2lz0\">Published<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-m5j4pi-MetadataContent eh44mf00\"><span class=\"ssrcss-1pvwv4b-MetadataSnippet e4wm5bw3\"><span class=\"ssrcss-61mhsj-MetadataText e4wm5bw1\">7 hours ago<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/div>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"subheadline\" class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-usmnse-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"subheadline\">\n<h2 id=\"Who-did-Man-City-pay-most-money-to-between-2009-and-2018\" tabindex=\"-1\" class=\"ssrcss-1sc9t00-Heading e10rt3ze0\"><span role=\"text\">Who did Man City pay most money to between 2009 and 2018?<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"text\" class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"rich-text\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-nqezkk-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Football transfers include many costs. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The amount required to sign the player is the most obvious, but there are also agents fees, legal expenses, administration money and potentially signing-on bonuses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">That means the money dished out by Manchester City during the &#8216;asterisk era&#8217; will have reached people and bodies who work in the background of football deal-making and is difficult to track.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">But what can be done is analysis of the fundamental interactions between City and other clubs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Below is a list of every club to whom Manchester City paid transfer fees between summer 2009 and winter 2018, in descending order from the most money to the least.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The list is for senior players and does not include free transfers, loans or academy graduates.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"text\" class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"rich-text\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-nqezkk-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">That is 46 different clubs in 19 national league systems. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">For some of them, the fees paid by City were the highest the clubs had ever received at the time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Looking at the spread of money among clubs demonstrates just how far and wide Manchester City&#8217;s money was spent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"text\" class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"rich-text\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-nqezkk-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The split in money spent on transfer fees by City during the timeframe is relatively even across some of the highest-ranked leagues in Europe, though the Premier League is higher than any other.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Just over a quarter of their total transfer outlay was paid to clubs in the English top flight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">They signed players from eight Premier League clubs, and the same amount in La Liga.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">A combined \u00a313m was spent on two players in the Championship.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"subheadline\" class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-usmnse-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"subheadline\">\n<h2 id=\"Did-the-money-really-help-football\" tabindex=\"-1\" class=\"ssrcss-1sc9t00-Heading e10rt3ze0\"><span role=\"text\">Did the money really help football?<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"text\" class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"rich-text\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-nqezkk-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Manchester City&#8217;s spending power unquestionably changed the world football transfer market &#8211; their willingness to pay higher fees and wages meant prices rose for everybody else too.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">And once the world knows that a club has a wedge of cash burning a hole in its pocket courtesy of City, it can be difficult to spend it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Asking prices may rise, and having an influx of money is no guarantee of it being well spent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">For many of the teams to whom City paid the most during this time, the money did not work out particularly beneficially.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Let&#8217;s take a look at some of the more interesting cases.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">First up, Wolfsburg. They immediately signed winger Julian Draxler for about half the fee received for Kevin de Bruyne in 2016, as well as others including veteran defender Dante.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Having lost De Bruyne, they dropped from second to eighth in the Bundesliga before narrowly avoiding relegation in the subsequent two seasons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">And things did not go particularly well for second highest-ranked club Monaco either. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The most direct replacements they signed following the sales of Benjamin Mendy and Bernardo Silva in the same summer to Manchester City &#8211; Terence Kongolo and Keita Balde &#8211; did not work out in the long run, and the team went from winning Ligue 1 and reaching the Champions League semi-finals to almost being relegated within two years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The club City purchased most players from in the 2009-18 period &#8211; Arsenal (four) &#8211; did not mount a serious Premier League title challenge during that time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Some clubs who did not receive payments from City could also argue that the spending of money from their &#8220;inflated&#8221; accounts compromised their chances.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">For example, Manchester City paid very similar totals to Benfica and Porto during the era, but nothing to Sporting, the club which makes up the big three in Portugal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Sporting did not win a title between 2009 and 2018. There are many reasons for that, but could one of them be the fact that their direct rivals received money from City that would perhaps not have been on offer had they followed football&#8217;s financial rules?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"links\" class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1gccci3-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<ul role=\"list\" class=\"ssrcss-94r6ik-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<li class=\"ssrcss-qzx51b-LinkItem e3eyuya1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1gccci3-Stack e1y4nx260\"><span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0s6gx-LinkHeadline e3eyuya4\"><span aria-hidden=\"false\">What does Man City guilty verdict mean for their squad?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<ul role=\"list\" class=\"ssrcss-9tw7r1-MetadataStripContainer eh44mf03\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-10q9h22-GroupChildrenForWrapping eh44mf02\">\n<li role=\"listitem\" class=\"ssrcss-sf7vdp-MetadataStripItem eh44mf01\">\n<div class=\"visually-hidden ssrcss-i2z2ig-VisuallyHidden e16en2lz0\">Published<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-m5j4pi-MetadataContent eh44mf00\"><span class=\"ssrcss-1pvwv4b-MetadataSnippet e4wm5bw3\"><span class=\"ssrcss-61mhsj-MetadataText e4wm5bw1\">18 hours ago<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/div>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ssrcss-qzx51b-LinkItem e3eyuya1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1gccci3-Stack e1y4nx260\"><span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0s6gx-LinkHeadline e3eyuya4\"><span aria-hidden=\"false\">HMRC urged to scrutinise tax implications of Man City case<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<ul role=\"list\" class=\"ssrcss-9tw7r1-MetadataStripContainer eh44mf03\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-10q9h22-GroupChildrenForWrapping eh44mf02\">\n<li role=\"listitem\" class=\"ssrcss-sf7vdp-MetadataStripItem eh44mf01\">\n<div class=\"visually-hidden ssrcss-i2z2ig-VisuallyHidden e16en2lz0\">Published<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-m5j4pi-MetadataContent eh44mf00\"><span class=\"ssrcss-1pvwv4b-MetadataSnippet e4wm5bw3\"><span class=\"ssrcss-61mhsj-MetadataText e4wm5bw1\">1 day ago<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/div>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ssrcss-qzx51b-LinkItem e3eyuya1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1gccci3-Stack e1y4nx260\"><span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0s6gx-LinkHeadline e3eyuya4\"><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Man City not &#8216;above the rules&#8217;, says No 10 after backlash to Burnham remarks<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<ul role=\"list\" class=\"ssrcss-9tw7r1-MetadataStripContainer eh44mf03\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-10q9h22-GroupChildrenForWrapping eh44mf02\">\n<li role=\"listitem\" class=\"ssrcss-sf7vdp-MetadataStripItem eh44mf01\">\n<div class=\"visually-hidden ssrcss-i2z2ig-VisuallyHidden e16en2lz0\">Published<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-m5j4pi-MetadataContent eh44mf00\"><span class=\"ssrcss-1pvwv4b-MetadataSnippet e4wm5bw3\"><span class=\"ssrcss-61mhsj-MetadataText e4wm5bw1\">1 day ago<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/div>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"text\" class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"rich-text\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-nqezkk-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">There are also some ancillary fees which reached clubs whom Manchester City did not deal with directly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Some players were subject to sell-on clauses, where the club City where buying the player from owed money to the previous team who owned the player.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">For example, Queens Park Rangers earned roughly \u00a39m from Raheem Sterling&#8217;s move to City from Liverpool in 2015.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Barnsley took about \u00a37m of the transfer fee paid to Everton for John Stones in 2016, and the Toffees also had to pass on about \u00a32.5m to Wolves when Joleon Lescott moved to Manchester in 2009.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The Sterling and Stones clauses were worth more than most players operating in the English Football League at that time, significantly strengthening the financial positions of QPR and Barnsley.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">To this day Barnsley have not sold a player for a higher amount than the fee they are believed to have received for Stones.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">But QPR have not returned to the Premier League and Barnsley dropped down to League One from the Championship after two seasons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Manchester City&#8217;s spending during the time in which they were breaking the rules certainly had an enormous impact, on their own upward trajectory, the futures of other clubs around the world and the wider football economy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">But the reality is that it is impossible to unweave the tapestry of football history during that time and since &#8211; too much has happened and there are too many indirect consequences.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The effects of that spending will reverberate for years to come.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-block=\"topicList\" class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-tcr9z1-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"topic-list\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-nj9heb-StyledTagContainer ed0g1kj1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1pfbb52-TopicListHeaderWrapper etw6iwl0\">\n<h2 class=\"ssrcss-89o2pv-Heading e10rt3ze0\">Related topics<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-17ehax8-Cluster e1ihwmse1\">\n<ul role=\"list\" class=\"ssrcss-w8zanw-ClusterItems e1ihwmse0\">\n<li>Manchester City<\/li>\n<li>Football<\/li>\n<li>Premier League<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/sport\/football\/articles\/cmew9w451vx8o&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/branded_sport\/1200\/cpsprodpb\/b049\/live\/fcba9170-bdbd-11f1-b7d8-31573a2bd831.jpg&#8221;] Which clubs did Man City&#8217;s &#8216;inflated&#8217; money flow to in transfer market? Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, The previous clubs of Sergio Aguero, Kevin de Bruyne and Bernardo Silva all received significant transfer fees from Manchester City during their era of financial rule-breaking ByDaniel Austin BBC Sport senior journalist Published 4 hours [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-2176666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2176666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2176666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2176666\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2176666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2176666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2176666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}