9月29日，据24直播网报道，曼城在面临115项指控中，有114项被证实有效。针对俱乐部可能遭受的惩罚及其潜在赔偿金额，The Athletic的财经专栏作家Chris Weatherspoon对曼城在违规期间所获得的收益进行了初步估算。

针对指控，曼城在2009至2018年间未能提交精确的财务报告，在此期间，他们成功赢得了三座英超联赛冠军奖杯。此外，在2018至2023年的英超调查阶段，曼城未能充分合作，同期他们赢得了四个冠军头衔。紧接着，他们在2024年再次夺得一座冠军奖杯。这家在过去十五年内共获得八座英超冠军的俱乐部，如今面临自家联赛对其大量指控的确认，这一事件对曼城、英超以及整个足球领域可能产生深远的影响。

诸多英超俱乐部亦着手部署，筹划提出索赔要求，其中不乏有集体诉讼的意向。当前，涉及数十亿英镑赔偿的议题正逐步显现法律支撑。尽管如此，考虑到曼城违规行为的严重性和由此引发的巨额支出连锁效应，对损失进行精确估算几乎成为一项不可能的任务。目前，尚无明确信息指明哪些俱乐部具备对曼城追责的资格。已知的是，阿森纳、曼联、利物浦和热刺均已按照相关条款保留了对曼城的索赔权。

Over the past nine years, Manchester City has topped the list of English football clubs in salary expenditures for eight of those years. Since the Abu Dhabi Group's acquisition, the club has significantly invested in its youth academy, which now consistently produces talent. The high-value transfers of these graduates have generated substantial profits, which have been recycled to bolster the first team, ensuring a continuous flow of wealth. The financial gains from player transfers are only matched by Chelsea. Furthermore, the club's substantial commercial deals with affiliated parties have allowed for the sustained construction of an expensive, top-tier squad, a strategy that has been widely criticized for its cost.

在剔除“未配合调查”相关指控的时间段后，即从2009至2010赛季到2017至2018赛季，曼城凭借英超联赛和欧洲足联的奖励，累积获得了高达10.94亿英镑的奖金，这一数字在英格兰俱乐部中位居第三，仅落后于切尔西（11.27亿英镑）和曼联（11.05亿英镑）。一旦将“未配合调查”指控的时间段纳入考量，曼城便成为当之无愧的奖金收入冠军。自2008年俱乐部被收购至今，曼城在各类比赛中累积获得的奖金总额已超过30亿英镑。

在长达9个赛季的国内联赛中，自2009年至2018年，曼城仅在英超的“排名奖金”一项上便积累了高达1.99亿英镑的收入，这一数字超过了排名第二的切尔西1300万英镑。自俱乐部易主以来，英超单赛季的排名奖金已从72.5万英镑激增至2017-18赛季的193万英镑，并在上一赛季攀升至376万英镑。以阿森纳在上赛季赢得的7500万英镑排名奖金为例，这表明了这笔资金的巨大规模。从2009-10赛季开始（2019-20赛季因疫情未公布具体分配数据），英超已向42家俱乐部分发了总计61.21亿英镑的排名奖金。其中，曼城独占5.596亿英镑，占总发放金额的9%，位居所有俱乐部之首，领先排名第二的阿森纳近5000万英镑。

财富的积累源于成就的辉煌，辉煌成就亦催生财富的壮大。英超联赛的俱乐部收入分配与赛季中的电视转播次数紧密相连。曼城球队成绩的显著进步，无疑为其赢得了更多的媒体关注。在2009年至2018年间的九个赛季中，曼城共获得了1.7亿英镑的电视转播收入，仅次曼联（1.8亿英镑）和利物浦（1.75亿英镑）。然而，长期违规行为所引发的严重后果，远不止于冠军宝座的易主。

Since the 2011-12 campaign, Manchester City has been a regular participant in the Champions League, and their progression inevitably precludes others from qualifying. From this perspective, Tottenham Hotspur has faced the most significant impact, having narrowly missed the competition four times during this period. As a result, they secured a total of 28.8 million euros in revenue from the Europa League. In contrast, City's earnings from the Champions League during the same seasons soared to 141 million euros. Additionally, two other teams missed out on the Champions League qualification—Manchester United in the 2016-17 season and Chelsea in the 2018-19 season. Despite Chelsea's triumph in the Europa League, their prize money from UEFA was significantly less than that of Manchester City during the corresponding seasons.

Over the span of eight seasons from 2011-12 to 2018-19, during which Manchester City faced accusations of failing to provide accurate financial data while securing UEFA Champions League qualification, clubs that narrowly missed out on the competition collectively received a total of 147 million euros in UEFA bonuses. In stark contrast, Manchester City amassed an astonishing 358 million euros, a figure that does not account for the potential loss of ticket and commercial revenue. Due to UEFA's bonus distribution system heavily favoring historical performance, clubs that consistently qualify for the Champions League benefit significantly from compound interest-like rewards. According to TA's calculations, prior to the start of this season's Champions League, Manchester City had already secured over 52 million euros in bonuses, a sum exceeded by only three other teams across Europe.

那些在争夺联赛冠军或欧洲赛事资格的激烈竞争中遭受损失的不只是球队，斯托克城和桑德兰在2011年和2014年的足总杯和联赛杯决赛中败给曼城，他们的遭遇又如何呢？关于球员薪资的指控是否会对他们产生影响？一种极端的解决方案可能是将他们从历史档案中完全剔除，取消他们在那个时期参加的所有赛事。不考虑这种做法可能会使英超联赛变成一支由19支球队组成的联赛，仅以2011年为例，布莱克浦本可以避免降级，而降级的则是狼队。特别是考虑到布莱克浦的老板在球队仅征战英超一个赛季后便从俱乐部提取了2700万英镑，自那以后他们再也没有回到顶级联赛，如今只能在英甲中挣扎求生。

Throughout the nine seasons from 2009 to 2018, had Manchester City not participated in the English Premier League, 42 additional clubs would have had the opportunity to secure enhanced ranking incentives. In the 2010-11 campaign, Bolton could have leaped three places in the standings, leading to an extra 2.3 million pounds in ranking bonuses, which would have increased the season's total revenue by 4%. Of course, this would have correspondingly diminished the income of other teams. By extending this "Man City absent" scenario to the recent past, it would have been Tottenham Hotspur rather than West Ham United that faced relegation last season. Consequently, it is not as straightforward as simply removing a team from a completed season and assuming everything else would proceed as before.

面对广泛的违规现象，情况变得愈发荒唐可笑。一项运动即便根基深厚，一旦其公信力遭受破坏或肆意践踏，追溯其连锁反应的复杂性简直令人痛苦不堪。在此次事件中，曼城，至少是俱乐部的高层，未能履行对体育运动的职责。以2017年末巴萨与梅西签订的四年新合同为例，这笔交易使得巴萨为单一球员的支出超过了5亿欧元。梅西无疑是足球史上最杰出的球员之一，然而，即便是对于他，如此高昂的薪资也显得过分，直接导致了巴萨陷入严重的财务困境，至今仍在努力恢复中。

尽管高额薪酬并非导致巴塞罗那财务困境的唯一因素，但夏季期间，若梅西未与曼城传出看似真实的转会传闻，那么俱乐部是否真的有必要采取如此极端的薪资策略？尽管曼城当时的教练瓜迪奥拉事后否认曾有意签下梅西，但流言并非毫无根据。关键在于，曼城的雄厚资金为这笔交易提供了可能，而这正是曼城如今面临违规指控的关键原因。若非曼城暗中操作，梅西本有可能以较低薪资与巴塞罗那续约，其他球员亦然。如此一来，巴塞罗那的薪资总额将不会过度膨胀，俱乐部也就不会陷入过度依赖债务的困境，进而无法跟上曼城等俱乐部的步伐。

然而，这一切仅仅是基于推测的假设，并非历史可能性的唯一版本。在这样一个假设的宇宙中，即“曼城未曾违规”的情境下，存在着数不尽的可能性。设想一下，莱斯特城或许就不会在2021年因为仅仅一分之差而错失欧冠资格，从而避免了随后的巨额经济损失，也不会导致目前跌入英格兰甲级联赛的困境。同样，阿斯顿维拉可能在四年后成功晋级欧冠，而不必在今年夏天为了满足财政规定而被迫出售核心球员。