Champions Man City return almost a THIRD of 3,000 tickets for Arsenal match after fans are asked to pay £62

Manchester City supporters have hit out at Arsenal's 'ridiculous' ticket prices after returning almost a third of their allocation for Sunday's Barclays Premier League clash at the Emirates Stadium.



Roberto Mancini's champions face a huge game in north London as they try to claw back ground on leaders Manchester United, currently seven points clear at the top of the league.



But it has emerged that 900 of the 3,000 away seats will be empty after City fans showed their disgust at being charged £62 for a ticket.

London calling: City lost 1-0 on their last visit to the Emirates

Kevin Parker of the City Supporters' Group said: 'In 2009 a ticket to Arsenal was £32.50, so in under four years they have gone up by almost £30 and now they're the most expensive in English football. It seems a ridiculous amount of money.

'Some fans are saying, "I'm not paying £62 whether I can afford it or not because I've got to draw a line somewhere", while others can't afford to pay £62. We play Southampton on February 9 and they are charging £38 a ticket. 'But we go to QPR on January 29 and they are charging £55 a ticket. I think some clubs are losing touch with the ordinary man.'



Arsenal are not the only club to have been criticised for expensive tickets but they were revealed to be the hosts of English football's most expensive day out by a BBC survey in October.



Hike: City fans have been forced to pay in excess of £60 for their tickets

Five most expensive away Premier League ticket

Arsenal £62

Chelsea £59

QPR £55

Tottenham £54

Man City £51

Football Supporters' Federation chairman Malcolm Clarke said: '£62 is almost obscene. This is an industry with eye-watering amounts of money coming into the Premier League. It's time fans got more benefits of that.



'You would expect Manchester City against Arsenal to be a guaranteed sell-out but if City are sending 900 tickets back then that speaks volumes.

'They have a reputation for being some of the most loyal fans in the country. In the economic circumstances, straight after Christmas, this is an outrage.'



No move: Balotelli won't join AC Milan

In the past the FSF have broached the subject of a flat rate for ticket prices across the country. This, however, is considered unworkable by the football authorities.

Meanwhile, the hopes of City striker Mario Balotelli moving to AC Milan have been dashed by the club's president Silvio Berlusconi.



'Balotelli is a rotten apple and could infect every group, even Milan,' said Berlusconi on Tuesday.



Berlusconi has again hinted that former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola is being lined up for the manager's job at City.



The Italian previously said that Guardiola would replace Roberto Mancini following the arrival at the Etihad of former Barcelona pair Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano.

Berlusconi said he had given up on bringing Guardiola to the San Siro: 'Since we spoke other clubs have come forward - including those who have friends of his.'



City refused to comment but have indicated before that Mancini's position is safe.



