Manchester City’s response to their ­season of ­struggle? Go big in the January window, go again in the ­summer and – in all likelihood – go even bigger. Those are the vibes among Premier League executives charged with looking after their club’s recruitment,

Manchester City have launched a fresh legal challenge against the Premier League’s sponsorship rules in the latest escalation of English football’s civil war.

City believe the new associated party transaction rules, voted through in November, face the same legal obstacles as the previous ones.