Flamengo seek €5m loan but banking on €22m of player sales
February 10 – Brazilian club Flamengo is seeking a €5.3 million loan to provide working capital for the start of the 2021 season.
Finance
Big money Manchester clubs rack up net transfer losses of €1.2bn
February 10 – In a city where the lead striker of one of the world’s biggest clubs collects honours for fighting a campaign to maintain free school meals and fight child hunger, the clubs themselves have gorged on the transfer market at world leading levels.
Denmark’s Esbjerg fB becomes latest Pacific Media-led acquisition
February 5 – Danish club Esbjerg fB, relegated from the top tier Superliga last season but currently in second place in Division 1, is the latest club to come under the control of Pacific Media Group who are partnering in the acquisition with Chien Lee, Partners Path Capital, and Krishen Sud.
Dell looks poised to close on acquisition of Serie A’s Spezia
February 2 – Spezia are on the verge of becoming the fifth American-owned Serie A Club, with MSD Capital in talks to invest in the Serie A side.
DaGrosa changes tack. With Saints deal dead KFG focuses on player development
February 2 – US private equity investor Joe DaGrosa has dipped his toe in the international football development waters with his Kapital Football Group (KFG) investment company via an agreement, effective July 2020, with Bolivia’s Tahuichi Academy.
January transfer window sees Big 5 club spending plummet by £620m
By Paul Nicholson
February 2 – Spending in the January 2021 transfer window plunged across Europe’s big five leagues from £890 million in 2020 to £270 million in the buying window that closed yesterday, according to figures from Deloitte.
Losses soar at Brighton’s Seagulls as pandemic takes £25m hit
By David Owen
January 27 – Losses have widened at Brighton and Hove Albion, the progressive south-coast Premier League club, after a season described by chairman Tony Bloom as “one of the most challenging in our club’s history”.
Barca’s $billion debt bubble looks ready to burst
January 26 – The full extent of the financial crisis at Barcelona, one of the biggest brands in world football, have been laid bare by staggering claims that the club is on the verge of bankruptcy.
San Francisco 49ers touch down in Leeds with bigger stake and even bigger plans
By Paul Nicholson
January 25 – NFL team San Francisco 49ers have bumped up their stake in Premier League Leeds United from 15% to 37% in a deal that reportedly values the club at £250-280 million.
Barca, Real and Bayern top money league as covid kicks off club revenue decline
By David Owen
January 26 – Revenues at Europe’s Top 20 clubs were down 12% in 2019-20 as covid began to disrupt the industry, according to the latest Football Money League produced by Deloitte, the professional services firm.
Serie B’s Pisa is latest Italian club to move into foreign ownership
January 25 – Alexander Knaster, an Anglo-American tycoon of Russian origin, has acquired a 75% stake in Italian Serie B side Pisa Sporting Club.
Egypt’s Mansour Group inject £100m for control of Right To Dream
January 21 – Egypt’s Mansour Group have acquired a majority stake in Right To Dream, the company behind Danish top flight club FC Nordsjaelland.
Transfer market dropped $1.7bn in 2020, finds FIFA report
By Paul Nicholson
January 19 – Transfers fees in 2020 dropped 23.4% compared to 2019, a reduction of $1.743 billion in money spent. That is a figure 10% below the value of transfers reported in 2017.
AC Milan to go crypto with upcoming Fan Token launch
January 19 – Serie A’s AC Milan has become the latest club commit to blockchain driven cryptocurrency fan tokens, saying that it will launch the $ACM Fan Token on Socios.com in the coming weeks.
Reims win €4.7m in damages for 2015-16 relegation
January 18 – In a case dating back to the 2015-2016 season, the French Football Federation (FFF) has been ordered to pay Ligue 1 Reims €4.78 million by a local court over a relegation debacle that occurred in 2015-16.