Pixbet agrees record shirt sponsorship with Flamengo
January 5 – Betting operator Pixbet has expanded its partnership with leading Brazilian club Flamengo with a new two-year shirt sponsor deal.
Portland Thorns sells for record $63m to Raj Sports
January 5 – NWSL club Portland Thorns have been sold for $63 million, a record for the acquisition of a women’s club.
Chelsea return to the crypto market with £10m BingX sleeve deal
January 5 – Premier league Chelsea have agreed a sleeve sponsorship with cryptocurrency firm BingX.
French court gives Algeria’s Youcef Atal suspended jail sentence for posting hate video
January 4 – Nice’s Algerian international Youcef Atal (pictured), already having served a seven-match ban dished out by French football authorities, has now been handed an eight-month suspended jail term for sharing an anti-Semitic message on social media relating to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Should I stay or should I go? Mbappé prevaricates
January 4 – Kylian Mbappé says he has yet to decide whether he will sign a new contract to stay at Paris St. Germain beyond this season or leave on a free transfer in the summer.
Player valuations boom. Will Bellingham be the first €300m player
January 4 – Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham is the most valuable player in world football at €267.5 million according to the latest report by the CIES Football Observatory. Manchester City’s Erling Haaland ranks second at €251.2 million and Vinicius rounding out the top three.
Transfer rumours: No Saudi for Salah, Olise to replace Sancho at Man Utd, taxi for Eddie Howe?
January 4 – Mohamed Salah’s future looks to have swung in favour of staying with Liverpool, with the 31-year-old reportedly leaning towards signing a new contract at the Merseyside club. The Egyptian’s current contract at Anfield runs out in the summer of 2025.
Tomiyasu’s cup half full as he complains an Asian Cup run could see him miss six Arsenal games
January 4 – One of Japan’s most important players at the forthcoming Asian Cup, Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu, wants the tournament shifted to the end of the domestic season in Europe.
Mancini blends youth and experience in his Asian Cup 2023 squad as Saudi expectation builds
January 4 – Roberto Mancini has named his first squad for a major championship opting for a blend of youth and tried and tested experience in a Saudi Arabian squad that is drawn entirely from the Saudi Pro League.
Debt ridden Standard Liege hire Ivan Leko in bid for improved fortune
January 4 – Croatian Ivan Leko has become the new manager of Belgian club Standard Liège, a day after the club revealed another €20 million loss in its accounts for the 2022/23 season.
Ancelotti dumps Brazil in favour of remaining at Real Madrid
January 4 – Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed his commitment to Real Madrid after signing a contract extension, thwarting the Confederation of Brazilian Football’s plans to hire him as national team coach.
Levski Sofia agree three-year deal to repay debt owed to Bulgarian state
June 4 – Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia have successfully concluded negotiations with the country’s National Revenue Agency (NRA) to reschedule debt owed to the state over the next three years.
Arsenal change strip for ‘No More Red’ campaign against knife crime
January 4 – Adidas and Arsenal have relaunched the ‘No More Red’ campaign, which will see the Gunners step out in all-white strips, drained of the club’s traditional red, to spread awareness to young people about the dangers of knife crime.
Generation adidas International continues journey but under new name
January 4 – Generation adidas International, owned by sport development tour business inspiresport (part of the Destination Sport group), has agreed a multi-year extension of its adidas partnership, but as part of the deal will be dropping ‘adidas’ from its company name.
Hermoso gives testimony in Spain as judge decide whether to take Rubiales case to trial
January 3 – Spanish World Cup-winning star Jenni Hermoso told a judge on Tuesday that the kiss forced on her by disgraced former Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales was “at no point consensual” and that she had come under pressure to defend his actions.