West Ham profits down to £18m after ‘difficult’ year
By David Owen
January 14 – West Ham United, whose star striker Marko Arnautovic is being linked with a big-money move to China, have reported a halving of profits after a “difficult” year.
Finance
Profitable Chelsea hike payments to company directors
By David Owen
January 12 – Chelsea’s landmark 2017-18 financial year appears to have seen big increases in remuneration paid to the club’s directors.
Chelsea try to turn off the Bayern tap
January 10 – Chelsea will report Bayern Munich to FIFA if they find evidence of an illegal approach for their rising star Callum Hudson-Odoi according to British media reports.
Everton back in the red after big jump in player costs
By David Owen
January 9 – Surging player costs and one-off items pushed Everton, the club from the blue end of Merseyside, back into the red in 2017-18, in spite of a 34% jump in commercial revenue.
Turkish Super Lig clubs given financial lifeline with plan to restructure $2bn of debt
January 8 – Turkish Super Lig clubs have been handed a financial lifeline via a deal brokered between the country’s banks and the football federation to allow clubs to restructure their debts.
46% of the Top 100 of the world’s most valuable footballers play in England
January 7 – With the European winter transfer window now open, any club looking to buy at the top end of the player market is going to have to spend over €100 million, and to buy at the very top they would need more than €200 million – if the players were for sale.
Man City could still face Champions League ban over alleged FFP breaches
January 7 – UEFA’s chief financial investigator has confirmed that reigning Premier League champions Manchester City could be kicked out Europe if alleged irregularities exposed in the Football Leaks scandal prove to be true.
Bumper transfer windfall triggers record £62m profit for Chelsea
By David Owen
January 4 – Massive gains on player transfers helped Chelsea, the West London club controlled by Roman Abramovich, to run up a record profit for the year ending 30 June 2018. The club said that the after-tax figure reached £62 million. This was after a profit on player sales of £113 million.
Chelsea land Pulisic in €64m deal but park him at Dortmund until next season
January 2 – No sooner has the January transfer window opened than cash-rich Chelsea are the first to strike, landing Borussia Dortmund forward Christian Pulisic for €64 million though loaning him back to the German club until the end of the season.
Pique builds his portfolio, buying FC Andorra via Kosmos investment vehicle
January 2 – Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has taken control of Spanish lower-league club FC Andorra for an undisclosed sum.
5 English in top 10 of fastest growing players by value. Sancho, Mbappé and Sterling lead
December 21 – Jadon Sancho, Kylian Mbappé and Raheem Sterling head al list of players whose market value increased most in the past four months, according to data from KPMG Football Benchmark.
China caps club spending power and limits player salaries
December 21 – The Chinese FA has slapped a comprehensive set of financial controls on its Super League and professional clubs covering money that can be spent owners on their teams, player salaries and even player bonuses for winning competitions.
US investor buys 85% of Dundee United for £1m and sets sights on SPL
December 21 – A US investor has taken a controlling stake in Scottish Championship side Dundee United in a deal estimated to be worth £1 million.
European Leagues call for more equality in UEFA’s €3.25bn club shareout
December 19 – Europe’s major leagues have called on UEFA to alter their revenue distribution policy to bring about a more level playing field and prevent the gap between the haves and the have-nots from widening.
UEFA hammer AC Milan with €12m fine and European ban threat for breaking FFP rules
December 14 – As if their misfortunes on the field weren’t enough after being eliminated from the Europa League, AC Milan have been slapped with a massive €12 million fine by UEFA and threatened with a one-season ban from European competition for breaking financial fair play rules.