LONDON: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has “not spent one second” talking about the fresh claims concerning his club’s financial dealings.

On Thursday, Germany’s Der Spiegel news outlet made new allegations relating to a three-year investigation into City’s finances by the Premier League.

The issue is an unwelcome distraction for City ahead of their Premier League leadership showdown at home to Liverpool on Sunday.

City went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn a two-year Champions League ban imposed by European federation UEFA just over two years ago.

City were banned from Champions League competition after UEFA launched an investigation into leaked documents published by Der Spiegel in November 2018 which alleged the club had inflated the value of a sponsorship deal, misleading European football’s governing body.

While CAS overturned the ban, City were still heavily criticised for a “severe breach” of regulations by failing to co-operate with the investigative process.

Guardiola said: “I cannot control what comes from the outside. “You understand what an important week we have had with Atletico [Madrid, in the Champions League] and the games we have [coming up], I don’t spend one second talking about that [the allegations].”

City believe the latest details are a continuation of previous allegations in relation to Financial Fair Play regulations, which they feel are designed to damage the club.

In the past, Guardiola has said he trusts the club’s hierarchy when they have told him the allegations are without foundation.

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