By Paul Nicholson
May 26 – Chelsea may have been the biggest deal ever done for the sale of a football club, but the club isn’t the most valuable in Europe, Real Madrid are, according to the latest football club valuation report by Football Benchmark.
“Quand on enferme la vérité sous terre, elle s’y amasse, elle y prend une force telle d’explosion, que, le jour où elle éclate, elle fait tout sauter avec elle.” Émile Zola, J’accuse
By Andrew Warshaw and Paul Nicholson
May 17 – The much-publicised £4.25 billion sale of Chelsea to a US-led consortium is reported to be at risk of collapsing because of a dispute between the UK government and owner Roman Abramovich over where the funds might end up.
March 11 – LaLiga’ clubs generated total revenues of €3.818 billion in the covid-impacted 2020/21 season, a 24.1% drop in revenue on the 2019/20 season.
May 10 – UEFA has added a new club competition this season but it is still clubs from the Big 5 leagues that are dominating the final rounds. A report by Football Benchmark links that dominance directly to player and squad values.
May 8 – Chelsea have confirmed that terms for the club’s sale have been agreed with the consortium led by LA Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly, financed by Clearlake Capital, and with US investor Mark Walter and Swiss businessman Hansjoerg Wyss along for the ride.
May 6 – France’s Ligue 1 has reported a mammoth deficit of €645 million for the 2020-2021 financial year because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the collapse of the transfer market.
May 6 – With the transfer window about to re-open the big clubs in Europe’s Big-5 leagues will be looking for value buys. But buying outside the Big 5 leagues doesn’t necessarily mean buying cheap.
May 5 – British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe has gone public saying he is “not giving up” on taking over Chelsea despite apparently being told to forget his £4.25 billion offer.
May 4 – The imminent sale of Chelsea is reported to have hit a potential snag over fears that owner Roman Abramovich might renege on his pledge to write off a £1.6 billion debt.
May 3 – A consortium led by the Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly has been chosen as the preferred bidder for Premier League club Chelsea despite a last-gasp bid from the UK’s richest man, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, according to UK media reports.
April 28 – Football media platform OneFootball has raised $300 million to accelerate its growth and in particular an expansion into Web3, a new iteration of the internet based on blockchain technology.
April 27 – AC Milan could be in the ownership of Bahrain-based private equity group Investcorp by the end of this week, according to reports.
By Paul Nicholson
April 26 – While Jack Warner tops the list of Trinidad and Tobago FA’s list of creditors filed at a local court as part of the TTFA’s insolvency proceedings – he is claiming $3 million – two other English names high up the list will raise eyebrows and interest in Europe.
By Paul Nicholson
April 25 – The world’s most wanted football criminal, Jack Warner, has emerged at the top of a list of unsecured creditors compiled by the Trinidad and Tobago FA’s (TTFA) trustee Maria Daniel. The document, filed with the Trinidad and Tobago court, lists Warner’s claim at TT$22.6 million ($3.38 million).