Man City owners face new crisis! DOUBLE RELEGATION on cards as fans lose the plot with flares

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 4 May 2024 18:17 BST
• 3 min read

The difficult week for the City Football Group, owners of Manchester City, continued on Friday amid angry scenes in Troyes.

CFG has rarely been a popular owner at the Ligue 2 club, but after a miserable campaign in France’s second tier, relations with the fans hit a new low as the pitch was bombarded by flares in the final minute of Troyes’ league encounter with Valenciennes.

With the score tied at 1-1, Troyes were set to be left six points short of safety with just six points left to play for, but now the club faces a sanction that will condemn it to third-tier football for just the second time in nearly 30 years. It will be the club’s second relegation in as many years under CFG.

READ MORE: Man City owners facing sanctions over transfer that could lead to RELEGATION

Angry supporters chanted “Merci City” as they flew flares onto the field, prompting the referee to halt the game with a minute plus stoppage time to be played.

Troyes released a statement indicating: “The context of disappointment among supporters does not excuse or mitigate this behaviour, and we are now awaiting decisions from the football authorities.”

READ MORE: Newly signed Man City WONDERKID set for Girona loan spell

Third-class citizens

Troyes have been treated as third-class citizens by the Premier League giants, with record signing Savio never having played for the club. Instead, he has been moved on loan to Girona and is firing the Spanish side towards the Champions League.

A deal is already in place to take him to Man City in the summer, though there is no indication of how much Pep Guardiola’s side will pay for the young Brazilian. He has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €36 million.

To add to CFG’s problems, there is a potential crisis brewing at Girona, who could be investigated for a transfer irregularity involving the signing of Ukraine international striker Artem Dovbyk from Dnipro.

The ultimate sanction in that case could be relegation if the Spanish club, of which CFG own 47% and Pere Guardiola, Pep’s brother, owns another 16%, are found to be guilty.

And on top of this, there are still the outstanding 115 Financial Fair Play (FFP) charges hanging over Manchester City.