Manchester City are in a bit of bother once again with UEFA and there is talk that they could be banned from the Champions League and Arsenal would get their spot, but is there any truth to that?

Manchester City have qualified for the Champions League as, well, champions, after pipping Liverpool to the Premier League title last weekend.

Arsenal, as we know, have to win the Europa League to make it back into the competition. Otherwise, they face a third year in the Europa League which, let’s face, is much more our level these days.

That being said, without the money from the Champions League Arsenal’s return to the world’s premier club competition will become more difficult so any chance of getting back in for next season is welcome by the club.

City are charged with providing ‘unconvincing’ answers to questions about their finances as well as misleading investigators. It is that second charge which means City could actually face an actual punishment in a game where we see bans handed out only to be overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

If City are banned from the Champions League they will appeal and that process will likely take months rather than weeks.

That doesn’t help Arsenal.

It is a complex case, as the BBC explains at length here, but the TLDR is that even if City are handed a ban and are unsuccessful with their appeals, it would be highly unlikely to apply to this season’s competition which, of course, would not help Arsenal.

It’s also worth noting that City are also under investigation by FIFA, the FA and the Premier League.

They maintain they have done nothing wrong.

City have spent £1.5bn on 79 players since they were purchased for £210m by the Abu Dhabi United Group in August 2008.

In total, Premier League clubs have spent £11.46bn in that time with the average spend £490m.