The news of over 100 accusations against Manchester City and the resulting crisis for the club has recently become a burning topic in the football world. In the early hours of 29 September, Beijing time (CEST), British media outlet The Daily Telegraph published an article stating that Liverpool and other clubs had long harboured suspicions about Manchester City.

Today, John W. Henry no longer speaks publicly, but there was a time when Liverpool's owner's comments made waves.

13 July 2011 was one such occasion. At the time, Henry posted on social media: "A club's best player should be worth at least 10% of the stadium naming rights. Mr Wenger boldly said what everyone was thinking."

Fifteen years later, this statement takes on a different, heavier meaning. Initially, people saw it as the complaint of a wealthy man who couldn't have everything he wanted, and Manchester City's anger at his insinuations. But has "what everyone was thinking" been confirmed since last Friday?

Henry's message included a link to a newspaper article. The day before, Wenger, addressing several journalists in Kuala Lumpur, had expressed his shock at what we now know to be an extraordinary moment in Premier League history.

On 8 July of the same year, Manchester City announced a naming rights deal for its stadium, then known as "Eastlands", a 10-year, £400 million partnership with Etihad Airways. In the world of sport, leaders, no matter how they calculated the figures, believed the numbers simply didn't add up.

Admittedly, this figure may not seem enormous today. After all, Liverpool recently signed a deal with Turkish Airlines, which will become its main shirt sponsor from 2027. The Anfield club will receive £300 million from this agreement, which is a record for such partnerships.

However, in the summer of 2011, the £400 million for naming rights was met with incredulity by Manchester City's rivals. Wenger stated that it raised "real questions about the credibility of Financial Fair Play (FFP)" and called it the "biggest test" for Michel Platini, then UEFA president.

"Normally, for Financial Fair Play to have any chance of success, sponsorship fees must be in line with market prices," Wenger said. "You can't triple or quadruple the price, because that would mean we might as well not care and let everyone do as they wish. That approach would also be understandable, but since rules have been introduced, they must be respected."

By way of comparison, the biggest stadium naming deals in 2011 took place in the United States, with the New York Mets (Citi Field, 20 years, $400 million) and the NFL's Houston Texans (Reliant Stadium, 30 years, $300 million) leading the way – the Manchester City-Etihad agreement eclipsed both of these sponsorships.

Henry, a strong advocate for financial fair play, followed developments with incredulity, as did everyone at Anfield. Two days after Wenger and Arsenal departed for China, Liverpool arrived in Malaysia to a warm reception.

The club's CEO at the time, Ian Ayre, had worked in Kuala Lumpur earlier in his career, but when everyone sat down in a hotel in the city, it was not the time to reminisce about the past. There was only one topic of discussion, and rereading his remarks 15 years later, one finds they have stood the test of time, proving remarkably prescient.

"These figures surprised me for several reasons," Ayre said. "First, I don't think it's normal. In Europe, that a football club would rename an existing stadium and derive real value from it has certainly never happened before."

"For the last nine years, it was called the City of Manchester Stadium, or 'Eastlands', but now it's going to change its name, and someone has assigned it enormous value. I find that a bit strange because no one has ever done that before."

"In Europe, and certainly in football, there's no precedent to suggest you can rename a stadium and generate that much value. Someone tried. Mike Ashley tried it at Newcastle, but no one calls it that (Sports Direct Arena), and it certainly doesn't have that kind of value. I find that very surprising."

"Second, when I spoke at SoccerEx earlier this year, I participated in a panel discussion on Financial Fair Play. The UEFA officials in charge of the process said they believed there would be an appropriate and strict process for related-party transactions."

"Are Etihad, Manchester City, and Sheikh Mansour related parties? If so, then it's for UEFA to judge. But that's not our concern. We have our specific brand here, and we need to be accountable for it. If this deal is legitimate, then it's good for Manchester City. It's good for them. But I think these are questions UEFA should answer."

He added: "The way we at Liverpool generate revenue is slightly different from other clubs. We only select sponsors when choosing partners. We strive to work with people who, we believe, share our values and who will treat the Liverpool brand and name in a certain way."

Henry, who led Fenway Sports Group's acquisition of Liverpool in 2010, had envisioned that Liverpool would progress "in a certain way" under his team's leadership: by using data, clever transfers, and investing available funds at the right time.

It is not unreasonable to wonder whether he would still have acquired Liverpool had he known that such a situation would arise, where Financial Fair Play could allegedly be circumvented, and where teams could strengthen their squads with players other clubs would need to acquire for record transfer fees.

A year later, in a private box at Fenway Park in Boston, Henry was asked why Liverpool couldn't buy three players at £25 million each in a single summer.

"Is UEFA really determined to enforce Financial Fair Play?" Henry shot back. "We don't know. The spending trend doesn't seem to be slowing anywhere, and perhaps the leagues would do well to examine it."

He added: "What I would say is that, from our perspective, it is very important for UEFA to successfully implement Financial Fair Play. It is a critical factor. About 50% of clubs in Europe are losing money – and I'm talking about the best clubs."

"Twenty percent of them are in real financial difficulty. I believe the leagues, as well as FIFA and UEFA, need to consider and implement relevant measures. Just because UEFA has its own rules doesn't mean the Premier League and other leagues can't adopt similar principles."

"I know the English Football League is implementing its own rules. This is indeed a very important element. Not only for Liverpool, but for football as a whole."

Manchester City remains confident of clearing its name and has not commented since last Friday, nor has the Premier League or Henry on this matter. Roberto Mancini, who was Manchester City's manager at the time and now coaches the Italian national team, even stated that the matter "was not his concern".

But the events of July 2011 appear to have raised concerns among many in the football world. Henry has not posted on his social media account since 11 June 2021. Given recent events, it will be interesting to see if he chooses to break his silence – and what he might say if he does.

Traduit par IA.

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