Money talk

CITY earned over £44million in prize money and TV cash from all competitions last season, making them the seventh highest earners from those sources in the Premier League.

However, that figure does not include ticket money and merchandise income.

City's coffers will have been boosted by their run to the UEFA Cup quarter-finals.

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One thing this does do is show the absolute worth of attaining Champions League football, illustrating precisely why the top four have managed to keep such a stranglehold on the qualifying positions, and why clubs such as us (under ownership who have heavily invested in recent times) are so desperate to grab a slice of the action.

Looking at the numbers:

"Fourth-placed Arsenal earned £73.4million compared to fifth-placed Everton’s £49.5million with the Gunners bringing in £23.4million from European football."

Not surprisingly, being in the Champions League raises your profile, and with a higher profile can lead to more games on TV as Sky seek to maximise this profile:

"...the number of times a club’s Premier League matches are screened live still has a significant impact on earnings. For example, no fewer that 25 of United’s games were screened live and for each of those the club earned £480,000, totalling £12million."

Which is why, a year on from their taking control of the club, not only are the new owners focusing on the pitch in order to get us into the top four, but also off the pitch to raise our profile worldwide and generate the income and revenue to see a return on their investment.