Manchester City’s annual results this week revealed a spiralling wage bill that is a record for English football and has left their neighbours far behind.
The £351 million total for 2019-20 is 11 per cent up on the previous year and comes in a season where most of their Premier League rivals have seen salary totals drop, and where bonuses would not have kicked in greatly as City’s only trophy was the Carabao Cup.
Manchester United had been the leading payers in England’s top flight in the past few seasons but their salary bill dropped by £48.3 million to £284 million — mainly because of their absence from the Champions League — while Chelsea and Arsenal reported falls to £283 million and £225 million respectively.
Tottenham Hotspur are even farther back on £181 million, just more than half of City’s total. Among the “big six”, only Liverpool have yet to file accounts for last season but they are likely to be in second place in the wages table, between City and United.
City’s wages total is sure to rise sharply again this season with the Premier League title effectively in the bag and a new deal for Kevin De Bruyne making him the highest-paid player in the English game.
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Given the salary restrictions imposed on Barcelona this season, City are likely to go past the Catalans too with only Real Madrid paying out more on wages in football.
Even though City reported a £125 million loss for 2019-20, the spending shackles are off to a large extent with Uefa lifting their financial fair play requirements because of the Covid pandemic.
What should be the BBC’s focus?
The BBC has a tough decision to make over the future of Football Focus in terms of its traditional Saturday lunchtime slot.
The new Women’s Super League TV deal starts next season with one match kicking off at 11.30am on Saturdays, a potential clash with the programme which is expected to give even greater prominence to women’s football.
Dan Walker’s departure as presenter opens the way for new ideas, and it would be no surprise to see Alex Scott and Jermaine Jenas involved, perhaps with a fresh new format. A BBC spokesman said: “Details on BBC football’s 2021-22 season will be announced nearer the time and we’ll deal with any scheduling clashes if they arise, depending on match selection.”
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Cricket commentators keep calm and carry on
Prince Philip would no doubt have been tickled to know that many county cricket broadcasters continued their commentary for about 45 minutes without being told they had gone off air on the BBC Sport website after his death.
The Duke of Edinburgh was a keen cricketer in his youth before taking up polo and then carriage racing. He was also president of the National Playing Fields Association for 64 years until Prince William took over the role in 2013.
Player’s brand awareness
Gary Player’s son Wayne did his father few favours in terms of image when he appeared to use a photo opportunity with Lee Elder, the 86-year-old who became the first black player in golf’s Masters back in 1975, to promote a brand of balls.
Wayne, who was acting as his father’s caddie, was standing behind Elder holding a sleeve of golf balls with the logo prominently displayed. Player Sr invests in the company that produces the balls but a spokesman for the manufacturers said it had not asked for any promotion to take place.
FA drops approval demands
The FA has dropped a demand for prior approval of any stories and headlines that emerge from Gareth Southgate’s briefing with the press next week — the England manager is speaking as part of Nationwide’s award recognising outstanding contributions in football communities.
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It is understood the demand emerged from the FA’s commercial rather than communications department and was swiftly dropped once representations were made to the organisation’s media chiefs. Such a step around the England manager would have been unprecedented – and entirely unnecessary with Southgate of all people.
Qatar concerns take effect
The increasing unease in Scandinavia over the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has been highlighted by reports that Denmark’s football federation is set to lose its commercial partner Arbejdernes Landsbank because of human rights concerns.
The bank, which has large trade unions among its major shareholders, is said to be uncomfortable at being associated with the World Cup given the focus on the plight of migrant workers since Qatar won the bid ten years ago.
