Man City rule breaking 'cost Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs £196.4m'

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Manchester City's guilty verdict over 114 breaches of Premier League financial rules has opened up a staggering estimate of what the north London side and their rivals may have missed out on in prize money and European qualification during the offending period.

City were found guilty by an independent commission of breaking financial rules between 2009 and 2018, with the club now facing the prospect of a fine, points deduction or even expulsion from the Premier League. City maintain their innocence and have appealed the ruling.

With the guilt established for now, a BBC report cited by football.london has attempted to calculate how much Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham may have lost out on had City not overperformed through the use of what the report describes as sham contracts.

Arsenal's £30.9m shortfall

Arsenal are said to have missed out on £30.9m across the period in question, with the heaviest single blow coming in 2016/17. Arsenal finished fifth that season, a position that left them outside the Champions League places, and the report puts the deficit from that campaign alone at £22.1m.

Chelsea's losses were put at £45.8m, driven largely by a £39.6m gap from a single season in which City reached the Champions League quarter finals and banked £79.2m, while Chelsea's Europa League triumph was worth £39.4m.

Spurs hit hardest

Tottenham were found to have suffered the biggest financial hit of the three London clubs, missing out on close to £120m. The report states Spurs finished one place outside the Champions League qualification positions on four separate occasions during the period, with City occupying the spot above them each time.

City's Champions League campaigns are said to have generated £148.2m in earnings, compared to £29.9m picked up by Tottenham through the Europa League, a difference of £118.3m. Spurs also finished below City in the league table on six occasions, with the report suggesting a one place rise each time would have brought in a further £6.6m.

Not every knock on effect went against Tottenham, however. The report notes Spurs gained £5.1m after City's Carabao Cup final win over Sunderland in 2014/15 handed Tottenham a Europa League spot instead.

Across the full set of calculations, the BBC report states City were paid £1.17bn in total prize money across domestic and European competition during the period, while clubs beneath them in the table could have missed out on as much as £844m. That figure includes £188.2m in Premier League placing money, £349.7m in relegation related costs, £217.8m in forfeited Champions League prize money and £88.3m tied to domestic cup competitions and the Europa League.

The findings add another layer to the ongoing fallout from City's case, with the Premier League yet to confirm what sanctions, if any, will follow once the appeal process concludes.