Manchester City are just the second English team to win the Treble – which is the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup all in a single season. They join their local rivals Manchester United in that exclusive club, who won it in 1999, and City's success on the pitch is fueling their financial success off of it.

City's prize money for winning the Treble is reported to be around $353 million. That's the highest amount paid to any club in a single season. The prize money is close to half of City's total revenue in 2022 ($780 million).

The Treble comes 15 years after the club was bought by the Abu Dhabi United Group – owned by Sheikh Mansour who is Vice President of the United Arab Emirates and in charge of the country's sovereign wealth fund. The group paid around $250 million to buy the club, which had finished the 2007-08 campaign in ninth in the Premier League, and hadn't won a top-flight title since 1968.

Fast forward to 2023 and the team has won seven Premier League titles, three FA Cups, six League Cups and one Champions League. The club's valuation, if it was to be put up for sale, according to Forbes is around $5 billion – the fifth highest of any team in the world.

City were also recently named the most valuable football brand in the world by Brand Finance 2023, ending a four-year streak at the top for Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid. It's the first time that City have topped the list as the club's brand revenue jumped 13 percent in 2023 to $1.5 billion.

In fact, since the pandemic City's brand value has skyrocketed by 34 percent. During that time the team have won three Premier League titles in a row but it also can be seen as a reflection of the work the club have put into growing their brand internationally, and particularly in Asia and the U.S. where they have done pre-season tours.

According to a report in 2022, one of the big reasons for City's growing popularity in Asia is their Norwegian striker Erling Haaland. He's made a huge impact since joining last summer – winning the Premier League player of the season and his 52 goals broke the record for the most in one season in all competitions by a Premier League player. 

In China, for example, City are now the fourth most followed club on social media site Weibo, ahead of the likes of Liverpool and Real Madrid. Globally, on Instagram they are the sixth most followed on 45.1 million.

Manchester City are aiming to keep building their profile and global fanbase but one thing that could hold them back is 115 charges for alleged breaches of Premier League financial fair play rules. They were charged earlier this year after a four-year investigation but City deny any wrongdoing and have made a legal challenge. 

The case relates to a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018 – during which time the club won three Premier League titles - and the investigation alleges that City did not give a fair reflection of its revenue, sponsorship deals and operating costs.

The case has been referred to an independent commission and there's no timescale set for when a verdict might be reached but if they were to be found guilty, a worst-case punishment could be relegation from the Premier League.

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Video editor: James Sandifer Animation: Alex Margaritis