Mancini just a bit rich

Simon Stone

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has hit out at the new Premier League financial fair play rules.

Although City voted against their introduction, a vote was passed with the required two-thirds majority by club bosses yesterday that will curb excess spending in the top flight.

Clubs will now only be able to incur losses over a three-year period of £105million, whilst those with annual wage bills in excess of £45m can only increase them by a maximum of 4pc.

As commercial income is not taken into account, there does seem an obvious way around the issue. However, Mancini believes the new rules are a restriction on the ambitions of owners. "I do not agree," he said. "If I am a rich man, I want to spend all my money on my team."

As City are already working towards meeting UEFA's FFP rules, which are even tighter, the practical impact may be negligible.

However, the kind of huge spending sprees funded by Sheikh Mansour that catapulted the Blues from their mid-table base in 2008 to become Premier League title winners within the space of four seasons will simply not be possible in future.

It is City's good fortune therefore that the drawbridge is being pulled up with them safely across it.

What Mancini does acknowledge though, is that the Blues will have to be far cuter in the transfer market than they have been in the past, when their vast wealth has been enough to seal many deals.

"We can't change this," he said. "If these are the rules we should work with them.

"It is normal. We need to buy good players. If you want to buy good players you have to spend money.

"This isn't only the situation for us, it is the same for every team. But if we work well and work quickly in February, March and April, we can find good players without spending £30m."

Indeed, the major problem City face is that the price for new recruits increases when they express an interest, simply because everyone is aware of the resources at their disposal. It places greater emphasis on signing youngsters, although even that can be problematic.

"Every time Manchester City move for a player his value goes up," said Mancini.

"If a normal club that doesn't have a lot of money to spend wants to buy a player it might cost them £8m. If Manchester City move for the same player, the club asks for £25 or £30m. There should be other rules for this."