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Manuel Pellegrini has seemingly refused to criticize Manchester City when asked to address the charges levied against Manchester City for breaching Financial Fairplay (FFP) rules. To be precise, they were hit with over 115 charges, with the alleged breaches occurring between the 2009-10 and 2022-23 season.
The investigations can be traced back to a report published by Der Spiegel, which contained leaked information relating to several footballing matters. The Cityzens are yet to be formally penalized, with some even suggesting they be stripped of the trophies they won during that time.
Some of those offenses allegedly occurred during Pellegrini's stint at the Etihad between 2013 and 2016. He helped Manchester City win three domestic trophies, including a Premier League title in 2013-14, before being replaced by Pep Guardiola as manager.
Back in March 2023, Pellegrini called the criticism against City's spending 'unfair', claiming there wasn't an 'astronomical difference' between their expenditures and those of their rivals (via The Guardian). He has now given a fresh verdict on the issue.
When asked to give his thoughts on the charges, the Chilean told the BBC:
"I am sure the fans of Manchester City are really happy with the way the club works and the way they play and the trophies they have won during all these years. Always you have criticism about a lot of things."
Pellegrini's stint saw Manchester City spend well over €400 million on new players. Some, such as Kevin De Bruyne (€76 million) and Fernandinho (€40 million) went on to become club icons. Others, like Eliaquim Mangala (€45 million), failed to justify their price tags.
Manuel Pellegrini compares his Manchester City side with Pep Guardiola's, brings up 'spending' point
Manuel Pellegrini also went on to highlight the difference between his Manchester City and the one currently at Pep Guardiola's disposal. He believes they are one of the two best teams in the world alongside Real Madrid, with financial clout playing a role in it.
Pellegrini, who is currently managing Real Betis added, via the aforementioned source:
"It [his Man City side] is not the same Manchester City as it is today. In the first year we bought players, but in the second we couldn’t improve the team because we had a Uefa punishment.
"The third year we improved with Raheem Sterling and Kevin de Bruyne. After that, Manchester City continued investing a lot of money in good players to get a better team. Maybe today, with Real Madrid, they are one of the two best teams in the world."
City spent over €110 million in Pellegrini's first season on five players, including Fernandinho, Alvaro Negredo, and Stevan Jovetic. They were then charged for breaching UEFA financial fairplay rules and their spending was capped to £49 million (~€57m) in the summer of 2014.
In comparison, Manchester City have spent around €1.8 billion on players during Guardiola's eight-year stint. They have six league titles and a UEFA Champions League trophy during that time, among other trophies.
