Arsenal chief executive Richard Garlick says everyone in the Premier League wants a quick resolution to Manchester City’s case involving more than 100 alleged breaches of the competition’s financial rules.
An independent commission has still not published its ruling, more than 18 months after the disciplinary hearing ended and three and a half years after Manchester City were first charged. The club has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Speaking to BBC Sport on the eve of the new Premier League season, Garlick said the length of the process was frustrating but insisted he could not influence or predict its outcome.
“It has gone on for a while.
“Everybody – the league and the teams – would want the clarity around what’s going to happen next.
“But it’s not something that I can control. It’s not something that I can speculate on.
“And I just hope that there is a solution very quickly.”
His comments followed remarks from Premier League chief executive Richard Masters, who acknowledged that the case had taken longer than anticipated.
“I do accept it’s taking longer than expected, and I understand that people want to find out as soon as possible what’s going on, but I simply can’t provide that,” Masters said.
He described the case as “hugely complex” and said the league had to follow its established legal process.
“Our rules are very clear – we have to follow the process, and there’s only one real clear route through, which is to allow that process to reach its natural conclusion,” he added.
Garlick served as the Premier League’s Director of Football from 2018 to 2021. BBC Sport has spoken privately to officials at several other Premier League clubs who have also expressed frustration, while recognising that the case is being handled independently and according to its own timetable.
One club official said the league should be “actively seeking to put in place a better system” so that similar cases could be concluded more quickly.
Another highlighted the financial burden of prolonged legal disputes. The Premier League spent £45m on legal bills during the 2023–24 season in disputes connected to its financial regulations, leading to concerns about the rising cost of the legal battle involving Manchester City.
The charges being contested by City relate to the club’s alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules. City also face multiple allegations that they failed to co-operate with the league’s investigation between December 2018 and February 2023.
Arsenal finished as runners-up to Manchester City in both 2023 and 2024, when they were beaten by two points. Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham reportedly served legal notices on City in 2024, reserving the right to seek compensation if the club were found guilty. Some clubs were said to have estimated potential losses of more than £100m.
Those clubs may also have drawn encouragement from Everton being told in June that they must pay Burnley £35m in compensation over the impact of a breach of the Premier League’s financial rules.
Arsenal not actively seeking Lewis-Skelly or Nwaneri sales
Garlick also said Arsenal were not actively trying to sell homegrown players Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, although the club would consider suitable offers that benefited both the players and Arsenal.
Both 19-year-olds have been linked with moves away from the club during the summer, including possible transfers to Premier League rivals.
Because Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri developed through Arsenal’s academy, any transfer fee would be recorded as pure profit in the club’s accounts. That could help Arsenal manage their finances in the season when the Premier League introduces its new Squad Cost Ratio rules.
Under the new regulations, clubs can spend 85% of their revenue on transfer fees, wages and contracts. That limit falls to 70% for clubs competing in Europe.
Asked whether Arsenal needed to sell players to remain within the rules, Garlick said player trading had become a central part of football business.
“Every club now has adopted a player-trading model. The way in which football is and the fees involved, it makes sense for you to trade players and to generate revenues through those sales.
“I won’t say it’s a necessity, but it’s only a matter of good housekeeping that you do look at those opportunities when they arise, and as long as they’re right for the club, then that’s something that we will explore.”
On whether he wanted Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri to remain at Arsenal, Garlick added: “I can’t stop other clubs being interested. Myles had a fantastic end to last season and has started this one really well. We’re very, very happy with him.
“Ethan has had a great pre-season as well and it’s just a case of looking at what opportunities there are that will help both of those in terms of their career moving forward.
“We are not actively looking at selling those homegrown players but if the right opportunity came up – right for them and the club – we’d obviously consider that.”
Arsenal have signed Bruno Guimaraes but were unable to complete deals for Vinicius Jr and Morgan Rogers during a summer transfer window that has produced mixed results for the club.
Garlick remains hopeful Arsenal can add players who will strengthen the squad before the window closes.
“As you are competing for Premier League titles or Champions League trophies, you need to bring in a certain calibre of player. And I think that that pool of players is smaller now than maybe it was a few years ago,” he said.
“We’ve got a really competitive squad and if the opportunity came again in the next couple of weeks for us to add a player that’s going to improve Arsenal, then we will look at that.”
Garlick also expressed confidence that manager Mikel Arteta will sign a new contract. Arteta has entered the final 12 months of his current agreement.
“Mikel wants to be at Arsenal, we want Mikel at Arsenal,” Garlick said.
“It’s only a matter of time before we put that into a new contract. Everyone is confident and calm. We’re just navigating a transfer window and I’m sure Mikel’s contract will be resolved shortly.”
