Jesse Marsch Demands Man City Relegation and Questions £52m Erling Haaland Deal

Jesse Marsch has called for Manchester City to be relegated following the verdict against the club over breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules.

The Canada manager, who previously coached Leeds United, demanded severe punishment during an interview with The Guardian and claimed people throughout football were already aware of inconsistencies surrounding City’s finances.

“I think Man City should be punished severely,” Marsch said. “I think they should have to go down.”

Marsch compared City’s reported financial position with the situation he encountered at Leeds during the summer of 2022.

Leeds sold Raphinha to Barcelona and Kalvin Phillips to City before reinvesting part of the money in their squad. Marsch said Leeds and City were the only two Premier League clubs claiming to have made money that summer, but questioned whether the comparison was credible.

He also raised doubts over the reported £52 million fee paid to sign Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund, responding: “Yeah, OK, sure!”

That figure referred to Haaland’s reported transfer fee rather than the complete cost of the deal, which also included wages and other associated payments. Marsch did not present evidence of any separate wrongdoing involving the transfer.

Leeds were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2022-23 season, although that campaign was not among the seasons covered by the commission’s central findings concerning City’s commercial arrangements.

Manchester City have consistently denied wrongdoing and lodged an appeal against the verdict, arguing that the commission made errors of law and fact. Any final punishment remains unresolved while that process continues.