Man City rule-breaking 'cost Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham £196.4m' as Spurs hit hardest

Manchester City have a cloud hanging over their success after being found guilty of breaking Premier League financial rules in a way that could have cost Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur missed out on almost £120 million, more than anyone else, by finishing behind Manchester City during the period the Premier League leaders have been found guilty of breaking financial rules. Arsenal and Chelsea have also seen a significant loss in earnings, missing out on £30.9m and £45.8m respectively.

City were found guilty of 114 breaches between 2009 and 2018 by an independent commission and now face the prospect of a fine, points deductions or even expulsion from the Premier League. The club maintains its innocence and has appealed the ruling.

But with City's guilt established for the moment, it's impossible not to speculate over how teams may have missed out, with the club possibly overperforming due to the use of 'sham contracts'. Without them, where would City have finished?

FOLLOW OUR ARSENAL FB PAGE! Latest Gunners news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page

Tottenham finished one place outside of the Champions League positions on four occasions, while City finished above them and qualified for Europe's top competition. According to the BBC, City's earnings from their Champions League campaigns totalled £148.2m, whereas the Lilywhites took home only £29.9m from their Europa League efforts: a £118.3m difference.

Overall, Spurs finished behind Manchester City six times and rising one position on the table on each of those occasions would have seen the north London side pick up an additional £6.6m.

However, City's success also saw Spurs benefit to the tune of £5.1m after qualifying for the Europa League in 2014/15 because their rivals beat Sunderland in the Carabao Cup final. Tottenham missed out on a possible £119,904,410 in total, the report claims.

JOIN US ON FB! Get the latest football news from Football London’s Facebook page

Chelsea also missed out on European earnings by finishing outside of the Champions League positions when City qualified. Their journey to becoming the champions of the Europa League saw £39.4million in winnings.

However, that was still less than half of what City were able to claim by reaching the quarter-final of the Champions League and pocketing £79.2m. That saw a difference of £39.6m from a single season.

Likewise, Arsenal recorded a deficit of £22.1m after finishing fifth in 2016/17

During the offending period, the BBC report that City were paid £1.17bn across domestic and European competition. They claim clubs could have missed out on a massive £844m.

That included £188.2m in Premier League placing money, £349.7m in relegation costs, £217.8m in missed Champions League prize money and £88.3m related to domestic cup competitions and the Europa League.