Keith Wyness: Man City 'weakness' exposed after new twist in Premier League case

Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness has suggested Man City could have a “very weak” case against the Premier League following new developments.

Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – insisted City are trying to “discredit” evidence from Nielsen Sports which will be “very factual”.

Man City took legal action against the Premier League last month in a two-week hearing, in their bid to end the Associated Party Rules (APT).

According to The Guardian (8 July), City are claiming unfair treatment from the league as they assess their commercial income by relying on the analysis of Nielsen Sports, a data company that also works for their rivals.

The English champions sued for damages after accusing top-flight rules of being anti-competitive and discriminatory towards the Gulf states.

Under APT rules, clubs are prevented from inflating commercial deals with owner-linked companies as current agreements are assessed as fair market value.

‘Sabre-rattling’ Man City may have ‘very weak case’, says Wyness

Wyness accused City of “sabre rattling” and “trying to discredit the witness”.

He told Football Insider‘s Insider Track podcast: “It’s a legal manoeuvre.

“Neilsen have been used like an expert witness would be used in court.

“This is Man City getting their punches in early to try and discredit them.

“They’re attacking Nielsen Sports because they’ve done work for other clubs in the Premier League.

“That doesn’t seem like great grounds to me. If they’ve done work for other clubs, that’s because they’re very good at what they do.

“Nielsen’s evidence will be pretty factual.

“They’ll be able to point to the market value of their deals, compared to other deals.

“I just think it’s a classic manoeuvre, and it actually shows a real weakness in the Man City case.

“It doesn’t sit right to me. If that’s one of their strong angles, it’s a very weak case.

“It just smacks of sabre-rattling and trying to discredit the witness.”

In other news, City join Liverpool in race to sign England star.

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