June 8 – Predictions that the savage economic effect of Covid-19 on football will dramatically slow down the transfer market has seemingly had no effect on Chelsea who are reported to have pipped Liverpool to the signing of RB Leipzig sharpshooter Timo Werner.
June 5 – Basketball star Kevin Durant has become the latest celebrity to acquire a stake in an MLS franchise, having reportedly invested in the Philadelphia Union.
By David Owen
June 4 – Spurs have become the first football club to tap the UK Government coronavirus support measure known as the Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF).
June 2 – The Dutch FA have asked FIFA for flexibility over their transfer window which won’t align with the majority of European player markets this summer.
By David Owen
May 30 – Newcastle United, the Tyneside club currently linked with a controversial proposed £300 million takeover by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, has finally brought down the curtain on the 2018-19 Premier League financial results season.
By David Owen
May 29 – Three words: Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The young defender’s big-money transfer to Manchester United on the penultimate day of Crystal Palace’s 2018-19 financial year was responsible almost entirely for carrying the Eagles back into the black after recording the biggest pre-tax loss of any of the 20 clubs comprising English football’s top tier in 2017-18.
By Paul Nicholson
May 28 – Real Madrid are still the most valuable club in the world, ahead of Manchester United, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, according to latest figures in the KPMG Football Benchmark 2020 club evaluation report that looks at the 50 elite clubs in European leagues.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 27 – The proposed £300 million takeover of Newcastle United by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) fronted by controversial Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, has been thrown into doubt after reports that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has found the Saudis breached international law by backing the pirating of Premier League matches.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 22 – Despite fierce opposition from rival clubs, human rights organisations as well as the fiancée of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the English Premier League is reported to have approved the proposed £300 million takeover of Newcastle United by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, PIF, fronted by controversial Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (pictured).
May 22 – English Premier League club Sheffield United say there has been no change to their Saudi ownership despite reports that Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (pictured) had given up control.
By Paul Nicholson
May 21 – Manchester United’s third quarter financial release has revealed that the loss of broadcast revenue due to a broadcaster rebate following failure to complete fixtures is about £15 million, putting the overall Premier League rebate at about £300 million.
By Samindra Kunti
May 20 – German football bosses want to see deep reaching financial reforms in the game following the coronavirus pandemic, with Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and DFB president Fritz Keller becoming the latest voices to back the introduction of a salary cap.
By Paul Nicholson
May 18 – The global sports sponsorship spend looks set to fall by $17.2 billion, from $46.1 billion in 2019 to $28.9 billion (37% year-on-year decrease) in 2020 as the result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
By Paul Nicholson
May 15 – French Ligue 1 side Olympique Lyonnais has reported that it expects a €50 million impact on its revenue in the final April 1 to June 30 quarter as a result of no play due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Here in England, we still do not know how, or if, the 2019-20 Premier League season will be allowed to finish. But it already feels safe enough to predict with some confidence that the 2020-21 financial year will be a bloodbath for English top-tier clubs.