April 10 – Controversial Spanish league boss Javier Tebas has again made claims Paris St Germain have broken the spirit of football law in terms of the money they acquire and spend.
By David Owen
March 18 – City Football Group Limited, the Abu Dhabi- and Chinese-owned entity that holds investments in various football clubs including Premier League champions-elect Manchester City, has posted a £71 million loss from continuing operations for the 13 months to 30 June 2017.
March 13 – Liverpool’s Mohammed Salah is now worth €74.7 million than he was on 1 September 2017, when the summer transfer window closed, according the latest stats by the CIES Football Observatory.
By David Owen
March 9 – Leicester’s Champions League adventure has combined with general inflation in player transfers to push the market value of Riyad Mahrez and the rest of the Foxes’ squad to above £300 million, according to the Thai-controlled club’s directors.
By David Owen
March 3 – The full business benefits of Leicester City’s surprise charge to the Premier League title a couple of seasons ago have finally emerged, with the Midlands club announcing a towering pre-tax profit of £92.5 million for the year to 31 May 2017.
By David Owen
March 2 – Liverpool have become the latest Premier League club to report strong 2016-17 profits. The Merseysiders, one of four sides vying for the runners-up spot in this season’s Premier League behind Manchester City, posted an after-tax result of £39 million for the year to 31 May 2017 – a £60 million swing from the prior season’s loss of £21 million.
February 21 – The Chinese owner of AC Milan has described suggestions that he has been declared bankrupt as “fake news” amid unconfirmed reports in Italy that his assets will be auctioned off on Taobao, the Chinese equivalent of eBay, to settle his debts.
By Paul Nicholson
February 8 – Manchester United have announced revenue of £163.9 million and operating profit of £28.7 million for its 2018 second quarter financial results ending December 31.
January 31 – A Turkish amateur team claim they are the first club to have paid for a player with cryptocurrency.
By Paul Nicholson
January 23 – Manchester United have kept the title as the world’s highest revenue generating club, again beating Real Madrid in a year in which the Spanish giants won La Liga and the Champions League.
How many 19th century industries can say they have more than tripled revenues over the first 16 years of this millennium? My hunch would be only one: European club football which, according to the latest UEFA Club Licensing Benchmarking Report, generated revenues of €18.5 billion in 2016, up from €6 billion in 2000.
January 18 – Any buyer thinking they were going to get a knock-down price from Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley for the club should think again. While Ashley may be king of the sports leisure discount market with his Sports Direct chain, he is not necessarily looking for a quick turnover of the club at a giveaway price.
By Paul Nicholson
January 17 – European football has never had it so good, it’s official, and the latest UEFA Club Licensing Benchmarking Report backs this up with an impressive gathering of statistics and analysis that reports another financial year (2016) of 10% growth for the European game.
By Paul Nicholson
January 16 – Almost half of Europe’s champion clubs rely on UEFA competitions for 25% or more of their revenue, but it comes at a cost. For Real Madrid that was a 32% increase in staff costs to €406 million, the highest wage bill in world football and accounting for 61% of the club’s revenues.
January 16 – One month after UEFA rejected a request to waive Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules for AC Milan, saying they remained unconvinced about the club’s new Chinese backers, reports have apparently been submitted by Italy’s finance police over potentially suspicious activities relating to the sale.