Football finance expert Kieran Maguire believes that after Manchester City reached an agreement with the Premier League on the sponsorship rules, Manchester City will be much more satisfied with the result than the Premier League.

Manchester City has withdrawn legal challenges to the affiliate transactions (APT) rules, which are designed to assess whether commercial contracts provided by businesses associated with club owners are in line with fair market value. Manchester City questioned the rule after the Premier League blocked Manchester City from commercial cooperation with Etihad Airways last year. Although the court ruled that the original rules were illegal, the league introduced a second set of guidelines, and Manchester City also challenged it.

City has now withdrawn its lawsuit, and Monday's statement confirmed that the club accepts the revised rules. This means that large-scale cooperation with Etihad Airways is expected to advance, and as commercial revenue continues to soar, Manchester City will receive another huge injection of funds.

Kiran Maguire said: "My understanding is that if Manchester City is dissatisfied with the terms, they will never agree to a settlement. They originally had very strong arguments, so the core controversy lies in the renewal value of Etihad's contract. How to define the fair value of corporate title sponsorship? The simple answer is that no one can decide. The Premier League tries to force valuation, but Manchester City fights back. Now Manchester City is likely to be satisfied with the result that the Premier League has to admit that 'fair value varies from person to person'."

"For example, the paintings painted by my granddaughter may be much more precious to me than you. If Manchester City receives sponsorship from Abu Dhabi, the value to Abu Dhabi companies will inevitably be far better than that of Liechtenstein."

This settlement caused a shock within the Premier League, and many clubs expressed dissatisfaction with the result that Manchester City is regarded as the winner. Maguire believes most clubs don't care about the APT controversy, but Manchester City's direct competitors will be frustrated by the Premier League's agreement to settle.

Maguire said: "There may be at least 12 clubs in the Premier League that don't care at all, because Brentford or Bournemouth will not regard Manchester City as direct competitors. Their opponents are Crystal Palace, Wolves, Brighton and West Ham, these midstream groups. Obviously some clubs hate Manchester City. They believe that if it were not for Manchester City's existence, they could have achieved greater achievements on the field, but in fact they are only a few clubs that put pressure on them."

"These clubs will be dissatisfied with this result, but given that Manchester City won a big victory in the first round of APT, this time Manchester City agreed to abide by the new rules has saved some face, but Manchester City's satisfaction with the settlement result is far better than the Premier League."

This victory is of great significance to Manchester City because its commercial revenue scale has far exceeded that of the Premier League. Currently, Manchester City's commercial revenue accounts for the highest proportion of total revenue in the Premier League. Maguire also believes that this marks a ease in tensions between Manchester City and the Premier League, but it is too early to speculate that 115 allegations of suspected financial violations of Manchester City will have similar results.

Maguire said: "I think this is a sign of improvement in relations. The two sides have reached a friendly understanding. Manchester City has never been struggling with shareholders' interest-free loans. It is just a tool they use to negotiate with the Premier League to protest what they think is unfair treatment."

"Some people are doing addition to the conclusion of 115, speculating whether major allegations will be resolved through negotiation. I think these two things are completely independent. The Premier League may be able to promote this settlement to other clubs as a way to save legal costs. But those major allegations are too expensive to resolve through negotiation."

"Clubs want results, and they are eager to see someone severely punished."