Woodward wants 'world class signings' as United debt climbs

Pep Guardiola's side won an unprecedented domestic treble in English football last season, alongside the Community Shield, while City's women's team collected the League Cup and FA Cup.

Revenue scaling £500m for a second consecutive year helped City to return a profit of £10.1m – a fifth consecutive year in the black for the club.

"This level of sustained success is possible for many reasons, but in particular because of our people and, critically, because of our ability to plan," said City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak.

"As intended by His Highness Sheikh Mansour, our organisation is now at a level of maturity that enables us to plan on multi-year cycles both in terms of our management of squads and more widely across the business.

"This strategic planning has allowed us to create an environment in which continued on-pitch success is both possible and likely, and financial sustainability is a reality.

"2018-19 saw an 11th consecutive year of revenue growth, and that is in part a product of our ongoing investment in football expertise, not just in Manchester but around the world. That investment will remain fundamental to our approach."

The spike in revenue was almost entirely accounted for by broadcast revenue paid out under the first season of UEFA's latest three-year rights agreement for the Champions League – with an incoming sum of £85.7m compared to £54.6m for the previous 12 months.

This season, City began a lucrative 10-year kit manufacturing deal with Puma, which is reported to be worth in the region of £65m per season. The financial impact of this agreement will be shown from next year's results.

City's wages were up £55.6m to £315.3m, with their wage/revenue ratio rising to "a healthy" 59 per cent from 52 per cent.

A close-season transfer window that saw the arrival of club-record signing Rodri, Joao Cancelo and Angelino, while the likes of Fabian Delph, Danilo and Douglas Luiz moved on, amounted to a net spend of approximately £109m.

City has been the subject of a number of investigations since revelations alleging financial impropriety were published by Der Spiegel last year, drawing upon documents purportedly obtained by the whistleblower Football Leaks.

FIFA issued a fine for breaches of rules related to the recruitment of youth players, although City avoided a transfer ban, and the Football Association also found no evidence of an illegal payment to the agent of their former winger Jadon Sancho.

Investigations from the Premier League and UEFA remain ongoing, although The Athletic reported last week that City will not be hit with a Champions League ban by European football's governing body following claims they failed to comply with Financial Fair Play regulations.

In addressing the UEFA investigation in the annual report, City said: "The directors welcomed the opening of a formal UEFA investigation as an opportunity to bring to an end the speculation resulting from the illegal hacking and out of context publication of club emails.

"The directors are entirely confident of a positive outcome when the matter is considered by an independent judicial body."