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| Richard Garlick became Arsenal's chief executive in September 2025. Getty Images |
Everyone in the Premier League wants clarity and a speedy resolution in the case against Manchester City which features more than 100 alleged breaches of its financial rules, says Arsenal chief executive Richard Garlick.
An independent commission is yet to publish a ruling, more than a year and a half after a disciplinary hearing concluded, and three and a half years since City were first charged.
City have always denied wrongdoing.
When asked if the length of time the process was taking was frustrating Arsenal, Garlick told BBC Sport: "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."
Garlick's comments come on the eve of the new season and after Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said: "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."
Describing the case as "hugely complex", Masters added: "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."
Privately, officials at a host of other Premier League clubs BBC Sport has spoken to in the past 24 hours have also expressed their frustrations, while acknowledging that this is an independent process which is running on its own timetable.
One said the Premier League should be "actively seeking to put in place a better system" to ensure speedier resolutions.
Another made the point that given that the league spent £45m on legal bills during the 2023–24 season on disputes over its financial regulations, there are mounting concerns at the spiralling costs of such a long legal fight.
The charges City are contesting relate to the:
- alleged failure to provide accurate financial information, including details for player and manager payments, from 2009-10 to 2017-18 seasons
- alleged failure to comply with Uefa's financial fair play (FFP) rules from 2013-14 to 2017-18
- alleged breaches of Premier League's profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) from 2015-16 to 2017-18.
City also face multiple charges that they failed to co-operate with the Premier League's investigation between December 2018 and February 2023.
Champions Arsenal were Premier League runners-up to City in both 2023 and in 2024 when they were beaten by just 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 are found guilty, with some said to have estimated potential losses of more than £100m.
They may also have been encouraged by 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.
Analysis
While most would argue that Garlick is simply articulating how almost everyone in English football feels about the length of time this saga has hung over the Premier League, it is still rare for a senior figure at a top club to break ranks and say anything publicly about the case.
Last year, the former Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said it had gone on for "far too long", but until now that was an isolated intervention.
It is no surprise that City's rivals are frustrated.
The club has spent £151m so far this summer transfer window, including a club record £116m for England midfielder Elliot Anderson.
They have also spent almost £700m on new players since being charged in February 2023, and have won six major trophies in that time.
Meanwhile, they - and other clubs - remain in limbo.
Are Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri for sale?
Meanwhile, Garlick insists Arsenal are not actively seeking to sell homegrown talents like Myles Lewis-Skelly or Ethan Nwaneri, but that the Premier League champions would "consider" the "right opportunity" for both the players and the club.
Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri - both 19 years old - have been linked with summer moves away, including to rival clubs in the Premier League.
Their 'homegrown' status, having progressed through the ranks at Arsenal, means any sale would allow the club to book pure profit in its accounts, helping balance the financials in a year when the Premier League moves to a new Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) rule of spending controls.
The new rules mean clubs can spend 85% of their revenues on fees, wages and contracts but the number drops to 70% for clubs competing in Europe.
When asked if the club needed to sell players to help comply, Garlick said: "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."
When asked if he wanted Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri to stay at Arsenal, he said: "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."
Despite signing Bruno Guimaraes, Arsenal have tried and failed to bring in Vinicius Jr and missed out on Morgan Rogers this summer in what has been a muddled transfer window, but Garlick remains hopeful of further additions "that are going to improve the club".
"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 around the contract status of manager Mikel Arteta, with the title-winning manager into the final 12 months of his current deal.
"Mikel wants to be at Arsenal, we want Mikel at Arsenal," he 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."
- Dan Roan
