Manchester City charges: Premier League clubs 'want clarity', says Arsenal chief Richard Garlick

Everyone in the Premier League wants clarity and a speedy resolution in the case against Manchester City which features more than 100 alleged breaches of its financial rules, says Arsenal chief executive Richard Garlick.

An independent commission is yet to publish a ruling, more than a year and a half after a disciplinary hearing concluded, and three and a half years since City were first charged.

City have always denied wrongdoing.

When asked if the length of time the process was taking was frustrating Arsenal, Garlick told BBC Sport: "It has gone on for a while.

"Everybody - the league and the teams - would want the clarity around what's going to happen next.

"But it's not something that I can control. It's not something that I can speculate on.

"And I just hope that there is a solution very quickly."

Garlick's comments come on the eve of the new season and after Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said: "I do accept it's taking longer than expected, and I understand that people want to find out as soon as possible what's going on, but I simply can't provide that."

Describing the case as "hugely complex", Masters added: "Our rules are very clear - we have to follow the process, and there's only one real clear route through, which is to allow that process to reach its natural conclusion."

Privately, officials at a host of other Premier League clubs BBC Sport has spoken to in the past 24 hours have also expressed their frustrations, while acknowledging that this is an independent process which is running on its own timetable.

One said the Premier League should be "actively seeking to put in place a better system" to ensure speedier resolutions.

Another made the point that given that the league spent £45m on legal bills during the 2023–24 season on disputes over its financial regulations, there are mounting concerns at the spiralling costs of such a long legal fight.

While most would argue that Garlick is simply articulating how almost everyone in English football feels about the length of time this saga has hung over the Premier League, it is still rare for a senior figure at a top club to break ranks and say anything publicly about the case.

Last year, the former Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said it had gone on for "far too long", but until now that was an isolated intervention.

It is no surprise that City's rivals are frustrated.

The club has spent £151m so far this summer transfer window, including a club record £116m for England midfielder Elliot Anderson.

They have also spent almost £700m on new players since being charged in February 2023, and have won six major trophies in that time.

Meanwhile, they - and other clubs - remain in limbo.

Despite signing Bruno Guimaraes, Arsenal have tried and failed to bring in Vinicius Jr and missed out on Morgan Rogers this summer in what has been a muddled transfer window, but Garlick remains hopeful of further additions "that are going to improve the club".

"As you are competing for Premier League titles or Champions League trophies, you need to bring in a certain calibre of player. And I think that that pool of players is smaller now than maybe it was a few years ago," he said.

"We've got a really competitive squad and if the opportunity came again in the next couple of weeks for us to add a player that's going to improve Arsenal, then we will look at that."

Garlick also expressed confidence around the contract status of manager Mikel Arteta, with the title-winning manager into the final 12 months of his current deal.

"Mikel wants to be at Arsenal, we want Mikel at Arsenal," he said.

"It's only a matter of time before we put that into a new contract. Everyone is confident and calm. We're just navigating a transfer window and I'm sure Mikel's contract will be resolved shortly."

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