Turkish amateur club use Bitcoin to buy new player
January 31 – A Turkish amateur team claim they are the first club to have paid for a player with cryptocurrency.
Finance
Global transfer spend hits $6.37bn in 2017, says TMS report
By Andrew Warshaw
January 31 – As the winter transfer window in Europe draws to a close, the eye-watering scale of global spending on players has been laid bare by FIFA’s latest Transfer Market Report.
Zenit Arena, Sochi and Spartak stadia all cost more than double Atlético’s magic Wanda
January 31- A review of the 30 ‘most prominent’ football stadia built in Europe over the past five years shows Turkey topping the list of countries developing their football infrastructure with nine venue. Russia, hosts of this year’s World Cup, is second with five stadia.
London Football Exchange launches $350m cryptocurrency fundraising
By Paul Nicholson
January 30 – The London Football Exchange (LFE) has unveiled plans to launch its own cryptocurrency that will offer LFE token holders special discounts, exclusive offers, rewards and other club and league incentives.
Beckham’s Miami MLS franchise launched with south Florida fanfare and 2020 target
By Andrew Warshaw
January 30 – It’s taken over four years but it’s finally happening. Not rumours, not heightened speculation but from the man himself. David Beckham’s long-awaited team in Miami is up and running.
UEFA considers cap on agents fees to stop financial ‘hostage’ taking
January 24 – UEFA is considering imposing a cap on agents’ fees following a meeting of its Professional Football Strategy Group.
Aberdeen close in on planning approval for £50m new stadium
January 24 – Scottish Premier League club Aberdeen look to be getting closer to approval for a new £50 million stadium and training complex to be built in the Kingsford area of the city.
Man Utd retain world Money League title topping Real Madrid by just £1.7m
By Paul Nicholson
January 23 – Manchester United have kept the title as the world’s highest revenue generating club, again beating Real Madrid in a year in which the Spanish giants won La Liga and the Champions League.
UEFA’s Čeferin floats club ‘luxury tax’ concept
By David Owen
January 22 – UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin has followed up the body’s latest Club Licensing Benchmarking Report, which documented growing disparities between Europe’s super-elite and the rest, by floating the idea of a “luxury tax”.
Slave trading? Brazil with, 1,210, top expat players table; France export 732 – 90 to England
January 19 – With the Winter transfer window open but the market relatively cold in comparison to the last overheated Summer transfer window bonanza, the CIES Football Observatory has produced an analysis of the destinations of the players from the three main exporting countries of Brazil, Argentina and France.
Manchester United top European net debt table with €561m
By David Owen
January 18 – Manchester United has by far the highest net debt among European football clubs, according to the latest UEFA Club Licensing Benchmarking Report, published this week.
Ashley rejects £250m Staveley offer for Newcastle, but club is still for sale
January 18 – Any buyer thinking they were going to get a knock-down price from Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley for the club should think again. While Ashley may be king of the sports leisure discount market with his Sports Direct chain, he is not necessarily looking for a quick turnover of the club at a giveaway price.
UEFA report shows a business in rude health and a governing body holding a tiger by the tail
By Paul Nicholson
January 17 – European football has never had it so good, it’s official, and the latest UEFA Club Licensing Benchmarking Report backs this up with an impressive gathering of statistics and analysis that reports another financial year (2016) of 10% growth for the European game.
Police find no evidence of crime in Barklay’s £15m move from Everton to Chelsea
January 17 – An investigation into claims by the mayor of Liverpool in the UK that there may have been fraud surrounding England midfielder Ross Barkley’s recent switch from Everton to Chelsea has failed to produce any evidence to that effect.
UEFA’s cash keeps Europe’s champion clubs ahead of soaring wage bills
By Paul Nicholson
January 16 – Almost half of Europe’s champion clubs rely on UEFA competitions for 25% or more of their revenue, but it comes at a cost. For Real Madrid that was a 32% increase in staff costs to €406 million, the highest wage bill in world football and accounting for 61% of the club’s revenues.