On September 29, 2026, an independent commission found Manchester City guilty on all charges of serious breaches of Premier League financial rules. The charges covered a nine-season period from 2009 to 2018 — the exact years that transformed City from a mid-table club into the most expensively assembled squad in football history.
Squad Wad tracks the total transfer fee cost of every player in a Premier League squad. It tells the story of how a club builds its team with money. For Manchester City, that story is extraordinary.
2008: The takeover changes everything
Before Sheikh Mansour's Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008, Manchester City's squad cost roughly £40-50m in total transfer fees. They were a club that had finished 9th in 2007 and 9th again in 2008. Robinho arrived for £32.5m in the first hours after the takeover — more than the entire squad had cost to assemble.
2009-10: The spending begins in earnest
City spent £122.5m in a single summer — Tevez, Adebayor, Lescott, Barry, Santa Cruz, Toure all arrived. Their Squad Wad crossed £200m for the first time. Meanwhile Stoke City's entire squad cost around £30m. The Wad Gap between City and the bottom clubs was already growing fast.
2010-11: The spine of a dynasty
David Silva. Yaya Toure. Mario Balotelli. James Milner. Another £115m spent in one window. These were the players who would deliver City's first title in 44 years. Their Squad Wad was now approaching £350m — already the highest in Premier League history at the time.
2011-12: Champions
City won the Premier League on goal difference, Aguero's last-minute winner against QPR one of the most dramatic moments in football history. Their Squad Wad stood at around £400m. The charges from the independent commission relate partly to how City reported the financial arrangements that funded this spending.
2012-2018: The Guardiola era arrives
Pep Guardiola took over in 2016 and immediately spent another £200m+. By 2017 City had the most expensive squad in world football — €853m according to CIES, ahead of PSG, United and every club on earth. The charges cover this entire period.
2026: Guilty on all counts
Today Manchester City's Squad Wad stands at £946m — still the second most expensive squad in England behind Chelsea. But the independent commission has ruled that the financial arrangements which funded this transformation broke Premier League rules across nine seasons.
The question now is what happens to the trophies, the points, and the titles won during those years. Whatever the outcome, the Squad Wad tells the story clearly: from £40m to £1.1bn in less than 20 years. No club in history has spent like it.