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Kieran Maguire: Man City in 'danger of falling behind' Liverpool as £72m news confirmed
It is now a ‘necessity’ for Man City to expand the capacity of the Etihad Stadium to avoid falling behind Tottenham and Liverpool.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the importance of boosting matchday revenue under Uefa’s new financial and sustainability rules.
Uefa’s new regulations mean clubs’ spending will be capped to 70 percent of their overall revenue.
City announced record-breaking revenue of £713million and a record-breaking wage bill of £423million in their 2022/23 accounts.
Matchday revenue last season also climbed to £72million thanks to an increase in the number of matches played, but that figure still trails significantly behind rivals Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal.
However, City plan to increase their matchday revenue after announcing plans to increase the capacity of the Etihad Stadium to over 60,000.
Maguire believes expansion is a ‘necessity’ for City as they need to keep pace with Liverpool and Tottenham – who have also made stadium improvements in recent years.
“I think Man City’s Etihad expansion is a necessity,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“Under the new financial and sustainability rules introduced by Uefa, City can only continue to pay competitive wages if they have more revenue coming in.
“I think the new 7,000 seats will be targeted at the upper end of the fan base in terms of corporate hospitality.
“So it will assist City’s finances, but football clubs have to run to stay still.
“We’ve seen the success that Spurs have had moving to the new stadium and Liverpool’s new expansion to Anfield.
“Everybody else is doing it so if you don’t do it then you face the danger of falling behind.
“That’s going to attach an anchor to the club in terms of the ability to pay wages going forwards.“
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