Get the day's biggest City stories delivered straight to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

UEFA finally decided to get tough.

The authority that gave us the laughable £25,000 punishments for racist chanting to the likes of Juventus have suddenly flexed their muscles.

To nobody's surprise they have honed in on the owners of one of our fine city's two football giants.

So who is it they want to grab almost £49m from and pretty much destroy their chances of competing properly in their own showcase competition next season?

Is it the Glazers of Old Trafford, who bought an institution, saddled it with more than £525m of debt and have so far paid close to £700m in bank charges, repayments and interest fees?

The owners who are disliked by most of United's fanbase, whose actions spawned a breakaway club?

Or is it Sheikh Mansour, who bought a club on its knees, ploughed in an estimated £1bn (and rising), took nothing out and led it to unthinkable highs?

The owner who is loved by supporters, who has spent millions on one of Britain's most deprived wards at a time of Tory cuts and has provided dozens of jobs for locals?

Of course, it is the Sheikh.

But he is ruining football, they say. He is buying success and that is not right.

There is no doubt that City have spent millions on players. They had to - because that is what football has now become. Those with the most money end up at the top. It is pretty much like anything else in life.

What Uefa are doing here is effectively trying to stop someone from spending their own money.

Can this be legal? This is Europe, after all. The land of free trade, of equal opportunity.

City will not want to rock the boat. They are the new boys and will want an amicable conclusion and do not rule out a deal being reached before Friday.

But even that desire to fit in with the elite cannot stop them from feeling that the punishment as it stands far outweighs the (alleged) crime.

They will not want to, but legal action could and should be considered.

And the other big question is what are Uefa going to do with the money? As of yet there is no information on what is planned for it.