It’s fair to say that the finances of Manchester City could be in better shape at the moment. Owner Thaksin Shinawatra has had his assets frozen by the Thai government, meaning they are no longer prepared to throw bucketloads of cash to land the likes of Ronaldinho, and are instead struggling to retain the services of Corluka and Ireland.

It appears as though there’s some unfinished business between City and Shakhtar Donetsk, according to the Daily Mail. Apparently, the Ukrainian club have reported the Premier League outfit to FIFA, after it emerged that they haven’t been paid full whack for the Brazilian midfielder.

FIFA confirmed last night that they are investigating a claim by the Ukrainian champions that City owe them £475,000 (600,000 euros).

The money is a ‘solidarity payment’ on European transfers. It usually equates to five per cent of the total sum – in this case £9.5m – and is distributed between clubs that played a part in the youth development of the player. Donetsk claim City have withheld the money and the case will now be heard by FIFA.

A spokesman for the world governing body said: ‘We can confirm Donetsk have lodged a claim with FIFA regarding this matter. As the relevant procedure will start in due course, we can’t provide further comments for the time being.’

Man City fans, is it fair to say that the club has gone backwards in the past twelve months? This time last season, there as bags of optimism after opening wins against West Ham, Derby and Man United. Now, despite having a great manager in the form of Mark Hughes, there appears to be mounting boardroom problems and it could be a season of struggle at Eastlands.

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