Manchester City must be relegated, says Canada’s ex-Leeds manager

Manchester City must be relegated, says Canada’s ex-Leeds managerJesse Marsch alleges Man City’s financial wrongdoing was widely known in the Premier League, and relegation must follow.Canada coach Jesse Marsch has ‌called for Manchester City to be punished severely over breaches of Premier League ⁠financial rules, saying his ⁠experience managing against the club left him convinced there were inconsistencies in the way it operated.City were found guilty of serious breaches of the Premier League’s ⁠financial rules over nine seasons from 2009-10 to 2017-18, with the league alleging the club used “sham” commercial contracts to inflate revenue and understate costs by more than 900 million pounds ($1.19bn).Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3FC Barcelona accused of corruption in Negreira case: All you need to knowlist 2 of 3Amid teen triumph and organisational chaos, Asian Games close in Japanlist 3 of 3Ireland refuse handshake with Israel and don armbands in Nations League tieend of listThe club has denied wrongdoing, saying the verdict contained material errors of law, principle and fact, and filed an appeal on Thursday against the independent commission’s ruling.Marsch, who managed Leeds United from 2022 to 2023, said the disparity between the clubs had been apparent to him during his time ‌in England.“I think Man City should be punished severely. I think they should have to go down, and by the way, everyone knew about it. Everyone knew,” Marsch told The Guardian in an interview published on Sunday.Marsch also pointed to the 2022 summer transfer window, when Leeds sold Raphinha to Barcelona and Kalvin Phillips to City, while both clubs reported making money.“That summer [2022], us and Man City were the only teams that said ⁠we made money,” he said.“For us, we did make money, because we ⁠sold Raphinha, we sold Kalvin Phillips. We had a lot left over from what we bought.“At the time, we weren’t in a position financially to not save. Our ownership didn’t have deep pockets. Whereas when ⁠Man City says this, I was literally like, ‘Are you kidding me? Is this some kind of joke?'”The American coach was also sceptical about ⁠City’s signing of Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund that summer.