While parachute payments provide something of a cushion, relegation from the Premier League is still a considerable financial hit.

Could the teams who finished in 18th place, one spot from safety, argue that they might have stayed up but for City?

There are a couple of ways of looking at this.

Firstly, the results against City who took at least four points off every 18th-placed team other than Birmingham.

Secondly, the mere fact that City were able to assemble a squad far better than their finances should have allowed. Could they otherwise have been involved in relegation battles?

Again, this is not to say City would have been relegated. It is about chance.

BBC Sport has taken the total prize money earned by the team finishing in 20th in the following season. That suggests a minimum return for having stayed in the top flight.

Deducted from that is the first season of parachute payments to give a net amount.

Hull were relegated twice in the period, costing the Tigers £93.78m.

The Tigers finished below City in the table four times, adding £5.2m in place money to the sum.

It leaves the East Yorkshire club as the second-most impacted on £99m.

Swansea are third in the table with £63.1m. Of that total, £54m is from relegation and £9.1m in place money from the seven seasons the Swans were in the top flight.

Newcastle suffered relegation by finishing 18th in 2015-16, costing them a projected £60.4m, of which £7.9m was place money.

Norwich (£43.8m), Wigan (£39.6m), Burnley (£31.1m), Bolton (£26.4m) and Birmingham (£25.1m) also suffered relegations in 18th place.

French club Lille say they are considering taking legal action after defender Tiago Santos suffered a knee injury from an “uncontrolled and dangerous” tackle against Le Havre on Saturday.

Santos, 24, was carried off on a stretcher having ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), as well as suffering a meniscal tear in his right knee.

He was tackled by Le Havre midfielder Amir Richardson in the first half of Lille’s eventual 1-0 win and, while it was given as a foul, Richardson did not receive a yellow or red card for the challenge.

Lille said they have asked the league to refer the incident to its disciplinary panel, believing it should have been a red card because the tackle was made “from behind, uncontrolled and in a dangerous manner”.

“Beyond the injury itself, the circumstances in which it occurred and the lack of sanction raise serious questions for the club,” the club’s statement added.