By David Owen
March 5 – The market value of Leicester City’s playing squad is reckoned to have nearly quadrupled to £236.3 million as a consequence of last year’s fairy tale season which ended with the Foxes crowned Premier League champions in one of sporting history’s greatest shocks.
March 2 – The closing of the sale of AC Milan to a Chinese investment group rescheduled for March 3, now looks set to be extended further with club owner Silvio Berlusconi reportedly considering accepting a third, non-refundable, €100 million deposit on the deal.
March 2 – China’s new restrictions on foreign player quotas in order to boost domestic progress is widely expected to reduce lavish overseas spending.
By David Owen
March 1 – Liverpool, one of five clubs locked in a fight for Champions League places behind runaway Premier League leaders Chelsea, tumbled back into the red in the 2015-16 financial year. The club reported a pre-tax loss of £19.8 million, versus a profit of £60 million last time, when it was the Premiership’s most profitable club.
By David Owen
February 28 – Aston Villa have disclosed a heavy operating loss of more than £80 million for the year to 31 May 2016, which saw them relegated from the Premier League.
February 27 – The long-running on-off saga of Roma’s new stadium plans looks to have been resolved with the club and the Rome local authorities announcing they have come to a deal on the new Stadio della Roma late on Friday. To celebrate Roma beat in-form Inter Milan 3-1 in Milan to retain second spot in Serie A.
By David Owen
February 27 – Britain’s vote to leave the European Union (EU) had a significant impact on the Football Association’s 2016 results.
February 24 – England captain Wayne Rooney has ended talk of a possible move to China saying he wants to remain at Manchester United.
By Paul Nicholson
February 23 – Chinese interest in acquiring Premier League Southampton looks to have doubled with a reported £246 million bid from materials giant Amer International and CITIC Securities to rival the Lander Sports Development bid of £200 million that was rejected by the club’s owner Katarina Liebherr.
February 22 – The long awaited completion of the sale of Italy’s AC Milan to a group of Chinese investors looks now to be set for March 3.
By Samindra Kunti
February 21 – French club Monaco have made an offer to buy a majority stake in Belgian First Division B club Cercle Brugge.
By Paul Nicholson
February 9 – Broadcast and match-day revenues have driven another set of improved Manchester United financial results with revenue of £157.9 million for the quarter ending December 31, a £24 million increase on the same quarter in 2015. For the sixth month period Man Utd are up almost £21 million on the comparable 2015 figure, to £278.1 million.
February 8 – Scottish giants and runaway league leaders Celtic almost doubled their revenue for the first half financial period to end December 2016 to £61.2 million. This is an increase of £31.4 million on the 2015 figure, the reward for qualifying for the big money group stages of the Champions League.
February 7 – The January transfer window may have seemed quieter than previous years but it still broke records with the CIES Football Observatory data showing clubs in the five major European championships having invested a record €742 million on new players, beating the previous record of €523 million set in 2011.
February 3 – Media group A+E Networks has bought a stake in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in the US which will see its women’s entertainment brand Lifetime become a sponsor of the league in a three-year deal beginning in April. A+E will will also launch a joint venture company – NWSL Media – to market commercial rights.