Manchester City beat Manchester United's financial record despite £400m wages

With the arrival of high earners such as Erling Haaland, wage costs rose by £69 million last season. Photo: Getty Images/Michael Regan < p>Manchester City became the first club in British football history to exceed £400 million in wage bill.

The arrival of Erling Haaland and the huge bonuses paid to City as a result of their success in The Treble saw wage costs jump by £69 million to £422.9 million last season, despite the club having 56 fewer football staff than in the previous 12 months.

However, wages still made up only 59 percent of turnover — a healthy figure. The figure comes on the back of revenues soaring to a record £712.8 million, almost £100 million more than the previous season and the biggest ever recorded by a British club. The previous record was £648.4 million, set by Manchester United last month.

However, City's wage bill was £91.5m higher than Manchester United's as their cross-town rivals were left out of the Champions League last season and Pep Guardiola's side won the competition as well as the Premier -league and FA Cup.

Haaland was joined at City last summer by Julian Alvarez, Manuel Akanji and Calvin Phillips when Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Alexander Zinchenko left the club.

Raheem Sterling (centre) ended his seven-year spell at the Etihad with a £50m move to Chelsea in 2022. Photo: Getty Images/Jacques Feeney

City earned a staggering £299.4 million in broadcast income thanks to its domestic and European success, while commercial revenues reached £341.4 million (almost 50 per cent of turnover) and a further £71.9 million were generated from matchday revenue.

Khaldoun Al Mubarak, City's chairman, called it the «greatest footballing and commercial year» in the club's history but insisted they would not rest on their laurels.

«After winning the Champions League in Turkey and completing the Triple, the question I was asked most often was: 'How will you top this?' he said.

“The answer is to double down on the proven philosophies and practices that have brought us this success, and challenge ourselves to continue to continually innovate to achieve new levels of productivity in both the workplace , and outside it. field.

“We will continue to question all industry norms, evaluate our successes and learn from any failures. We will not be afraid to set new goals and develop new strategies that will benefit our club, its communities and stakeholders, and especially the fans.»

Neither Al Mubarak nor CEO Ferran Soriano made any mention of statement following the latest reports of allegations against the club in the Premier League.

Following a four-year investigation, City were charged in February with more than 100 breaches of Premier League rules.

< p> >An independent panel could impose penalties ranging from a fine and points deduction to expulsion from the Premier League.

Legal experts believe the case could take two to four years to resolve, despite the fact that The Premier League is under arrest. Pressure from other member clubs to conclude the matter quickly amid concerns that delays could undermine the integrity of the competition.