Jose’s Man Utd signing snags over who owns his image; could Zlat sign first?
May 26 – Image rights negotiations are reportedly delaying Jose Mourinho’s imminent appointment as Manchester United manager.
Premier League
It’s official, van Gaal is leaving Man Utd, and Jose is heading north
By Andrew Warshaw
May 24 – Manchester United have finally confirmed what the world has been reporting for 48 hours by announcing that Louis van Gaal has been sacked as manager, a sorry end to a saga that has left a sour taste in the mouth despite a massively under-achieving league season.
China’s Xia swoops for Aston Villa in knockdown £60m deal
May 19 – China’s influence as an emerging new global commercial player in football has been further underlined with businessman Tony Xia agreeing to buy Aston Villa, the historic English club just relegated from the Premier League, for a reported £60 million.
English fans break attendance records, packing grounds for season finale
May 19 – The Premier League may have finished slightly later than planned with the forced shift of Manchester United’s final home game against Bournemouth to Tuesday night because of security concerns, but fans set a record attendance across the country for the Sunday 3pm kick offs.
Leicester City target Chinese youth with academy programme
May 19 – Leicester City, the rags to riches English Premier League champions who have rewritten the rules on the pitch, have moved swiftly to expand their international footprint and are reported to be focussing on China with a plan to train Chinese youth players at their academy.
Man Utd blast out another quarter of big money earning
May 15 – Manchester United unveiled third quarter revenues up 29.9% to £123.4 million, predominantly the result of a controlled explosion in commercial revenues which rose 37.7% for the quarter to £65.8 million.
Spurs secure Pochettino as key part of future through to 2021
May 13 – Tottenham Hotspur’s Argentine manager Mauricio Pochettino has signed a contract extension which commits him to the north London club until 2021.
Newcastle count the cost of relegation as Sunderland make great escape
By Andrew Warshaw
May 12 – They spent a whopping £80 million on new players since last summer and, when that didn’t bear fruit, brought in one of Europe’s most accomplished and respected managers late on to try and save them.
Everton sack Martinez as De Boer puts himself forward
May 12 – Everton have sacked manager Roberto Martinez after three years in charge. Even before he was fired the managerial rumour mill for next season had already started with Frank de Boer reported to be in the frame to take over after agreeing to leave Ajax after five years in charge.
Hammers fans mark final game at Upton Park with attack on Man Utd bus
May 11 – West Ham United’s final match at its iconic Upton Park ground in East London after 112 years may have had the perfect denouement on the field, with an emotional 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Manchester United. But the carnival atmosphere turned distinctly sour courtesy of shameful scenes reminiscent of the dark days of English football.
Guardiola gets an early Manchester welcome with Utd poised to send City to Europa Cup
May 9 – When Pep Guardiola agreed terms with Manchester City to take over from Manuel Pellegrini next season, he surely did so with the prospect of having another crack at the Champions League as well as turning his many talents to taking City back to the top of the pack domestically.
Boro and Brighton in £170m shoot-out for Premier League
May 6 – Promotion to the Premier League could be worth around £170 million to the winner of Saturday’s sudden death decider between Middlesbrough and Brighton, according to financial analysts Deloitte.
Dyke says Spurs deal for Wembley is getting close
May 6 – Tottenham Hotspur are getting closer to a deal to play home their Premier League games at Wembley, the national stadium, in the 2017-18 season as they complete building work on a new ground.
Premier League attendances hit season high with six clubs more than 99% full
May 6 – Last weekend’s Premier League fixtures recorded a season high in terms of overall percentage of stadium capacities reported. With every home team reporting more than 90% of capacity, there were just 7,190 unsold seats out of 400,246 available.
Suárez sends Liverpool to the top of 2014-15 Premier League profits table
By David Owen
May 4 – Just as Gareth Bale propelled Tottenham Hotspur to the top of the Premier League’s profit pile last time around, so Luís Suárez is responsible for Liverpool’s position of pre-eminence in the latest table.