Etihad Stadium
Manchester City were taken over by owners from Abu Dhabi in 2008

An investigation into potential rule breaking at Manchester City is focused on illegal payments to underaged players, inflated sponsorship deals and hidden salary payments made to a former manager, according to a German newspaper.

The publication says that the club has been investigated by the league for three years.

But Der Spiegel has now published details from its own investigation conducted in conjunction with the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) journalism network.

It gives a description of each of the three areas it claims are the focus of the league's inquiries.

The Premier League and Manchester City didn't comment when contacted.

It is understood that City believe the latest details are a continuation of previous allegations in relation to Financial Fair Play regulations, which they feel are designed to damage the club. It is thought that the club wants to respect the ongoing process with the league.

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According to a report by the German magazine, the premier league champion pressured young players to sign contracts with Manchester City in violation of the rules.

Club sponsors in Abu Dhabi are said to have provided only a portion of their payments to the club themselves, with the rest made up by the club owner, a member of the Abu Dhabi ruling family.

The City are accused of paying a significant portion of former manager Roberto Mancini's compensation by way of a fake consulting contract.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned a two-year ban from European club competition for City in 2020 after they were found to have committed serious breeches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said that City had shown a blatant disregard to Uefa's investigation into potential FFP breeches, even though it found no conclusive evidence that they hid funding from their owner as sponsorship.

The club had inflated the value of a sponsorship deal, according to documents leaked in November of last year.

During testimony to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, a legal representative of the Finance Ministry in Abu Dhabi claimed that the Abu Dhabi United Group Investment and Development, which owned Manchester City until last year, was connected to the government of the United Arab.