Man City demand key financial information from Arsenal and other clubs in legal battle with Premier League

Arsenal - and a host of others – could be forced to hand over key and sensitive financial information following a demand from Manchester City.

As City’s war with the Premier League continues, Mail Sport understands that lawyers acting for the club have requested that the competition invokes one of its own rules and force a group of clubs which also includes the likes of Brighton and Everton to provide detail on loans they have received from their owners.

City want to then use the information in their latest battle with the competition over its amended rules on sponsorship deals.

They say that new regulations on Associated Party Transactions (APTs) – introduced by the Premier League after City successfully had the previous version deemed null and void – continue to discriminate.

Their view is that shareholder loans, which often feature favourable or zero interest rates, give clubs who receive them, such as the Gunners, an unfair advantage as they are not subject to the same scrutiny as other commercial deals.

All clubs have been informed of the request and will now face a wait to find if they have to comply. The likelihood of that being the case may well have caused a headache for the powers-that-be at the Emirates as they prepared for tonight’s Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain.

Arsenal benefitted from £259m worth of shareholder loans in 2022-23 while, in 2023, Liverpool owed owners FSG £71.4m. Brighton benefitted from shareholder loans of around £406.5m in 2021-22 while Everton’s figure for 2022-23 was £450m.

An independent panel, which previously ruled in City’s favour, is set to consider the matter at a hearing in mid-October.

Ahead of that date, representatives for City have asked the Premier League to use its Rule B18 which states that clubs ‘shall comply promptly with any request for information’.

After their previous victory, City warned the competition against effectively tweaking rules on APTs, which are commercial deals with groups linked to clubs’ ownerships. They have now carried through on their threat to take legal action against them. Following their initial success, clubs were hit with a bill of more than £20m.

The case is separate from the hearing into allegations that saw City charged with 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules. A verdict may not be delivered until next Spring.

Should City again emerge successful the Premier League could see its financial rules thrown into disarray once more with its clubs hit with another hefty legal bill.

The Premier League declined to comment.