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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
January 16 – One month after UEFA rejected a request to waive Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules for AC Milan, saying they remained unconvinced about the club’s new Chinese backers, reports have apparently been submitted by Italy’s finance police over potentially suspicious activities relating to the sale.
January 12 – The rapidly growing partnership between the NFL and UK fans of the sport breaks new ground later this year when Tottenham Hotspur’s new 61,000-seat stadium hosts an NFL fixture for the first time when the Seattle Seahawks play the Oakland Raiders on October 14.
January 12 – Everton have set a 2022 target for taking occupancy of their new waterfront stadium at Bramley Moore Dock in Liverpool, at the same time that estimated costs have been acknowledged as having risen from an initial estimate of £300 million to £500 million.
January 11 – The English FA has unveiled a package of new financing that centres around increasing investment in the English game from to £123 million to £180 million. The FA also said that it will have paid off its Wembley National Stadium debt by the end of 2024.
January 10 – The way clubs manipulate the transfer window behind the scenes in their negotiations has long been a somewhat questionable practise in terms of how much players who move are actually worth.
January 9 – Neymar, Lionel Messi and Harry Kane are the highest priced items in an analysis of current transfer values. 13 players from the Premier League clubs make up the top 20 places.
By David Owen
January 9 – Roman Abramovich pumped a further £33.8 million into Chelsea in the Premier League champions’ last financial year. The figure is included in the West London club’s accounts for the year to 30 June 2017 which have now arrived at Companies House.
January 9 – Swansea City’s majority owners have suspended talks to acquire a further 10% of the club’s shares – they currently hold 68% – while they focus “time, energy and resources” into battling relegation. The club are currently bottom of the Premier League.
January 9 – Chelsea’s redevelopment of their Stamford Bridge stadium has been put back another year with the club now unlikely to move into the new ground until 2024, but perhaps even in 2025.
January 8 – Manchester City’s holding company City Football Group (CFG) is exploring further club expansion with India, the world’s second most populous nation, looking like the next market for acquisition.