Wenger concerned City bending the rules

Arsene Wenger is worried Manchester City’s policy of buying up clubs around the world could see them side-step Uefa’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.

Former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard will turn out for City in the coming season having signed on-loan from New York City — a Major League Soccer franchise owned by the same powers as those in charge of the current Premier League champions.

After falling foul of FFP regulations, City have been restricted to a 21-man Champions League squad this year — with eight home-grown players required in their Premier League squad.

Although his move has not been officially confirmed, City manager Manuel Pellegrini has announced Lampard will now occupy one of those berths after the England midfielder sealed a shock return to the Premier League just months after leaving Chelsea.

But Wenger, who has always been a staunch advocate of FFP, believes the move could benefit City at the expense of Arsenal and their fellow title rivals.

“It is a surprise,” he said when asked about Lampard’s loan move.

“After the statements we hear it is a surprise but it looks like all of these ‘City’ clubs will feed the main club Man City — I heard they want to buy five clubs all over the world.

“Is it a way to get around the fair play? I don’t know. We are happy to dedicate the money to just run our club — there is not a lot of surplus to run other clubs.”

Wenger was talking following his side’s 1-0 Emirates Cup defeat to Monaco, a result which saw Valencia walk away with the pre-season trophy.

Wenger handed a first start to summer signing Alexis Sanchez in the defeat, with Radamel Falcao’s first-half header enough to give Monaco the win.

It followed a free-flowing Arsenal display in Saturday’s 5-1 victory over Benfica — with Wenger admitting playing two games in two days took a heavy toll on his players.

“We have made a demonstration that in 24 hours a lot can change in football,” he said. “I feel many players had not recovered physically and we were not completely ready.”