February 16 – For years, the 50 plus 1 ownership rule in the Bundesliga, which effectively prevents reckless profit-driven owners from taking over clubs, has been held up as a bastion of commercial fair play.
By David Owen
February 15 – German professional football remains an oasis of financial solidity. The Deutsche Fussball Liga (DFL)’s 2018 Report on the economic state of the sector reveals that the clubs in the top two tiers of Western Europe’s most populous nation – Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 – for the first time generated aggregate revenues of more than €4 billion in 2016-17.
February 13 – No other club in history has spent as much as Manchester City to assemble a playing squad. At €878 million Man City have spent €73 million more than Paris St Germain and €131 million more than neighbours Man Utd, though they are having a Red Devil of a time under big spender Jose Mourinho to close that gap.
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.
February 7 – The mini-bond launched by sports investment platform Tifosy for Italy’s Serie B club Frosinone, has reached its €1.5 million target.
February 6 – The three biggest transfers in the winter window - Philippe Coutinho (€160m), Virgil van Dijk (€84m) and Diego Costa (€66m) – were all concluded at a higher value than the real worth of the players, according to analysis by the CIES Football Observatory. Liverpool overpaid by €21 million for van Dijk, but balanced that with Barca’s overpayment of €13 million for Coutinho. Chelsea managed to get an impressive €26 million more than CIES’s estimated real value for Costa.
February 2 – With transfer fees having crashed through the roof once again in January, one of the unknown factors is just how much went to agents.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 1 – January is supposedly never the ideal time to buy players in terms of planning yet Premier League clubs spent a record £430 million in the winter transfer window that closed Wednesday night, according to Deloitte’s Sports Business Group, exceeding the previous record set in 2011 by a staggering 91%.
January 31 – A Turkish amateur team claim they are the first club to have paid for a player with cryptocurrency.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 31 – As the winter transfer window in Europe draws to a close, the eye-watering scale of global spending on players has been laid bare by FIFA’s latest Transfer Market Report.
January 31- A review of the 30 ‘most prominent’ football stadia built in Europe over the past five years shows Turkey topping the list of countries developing their football infrastructure with nine venue. Russia, hosts of this year’s World Cup, is second with five stadia.
By Paul Nicholson
January 30 – The London Football Exchange (LFE) has unveiled plans to launch its own cryptocurrency that will offer LFE token holders special discounts, exclusive offers, rewards and other club and league incentives.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 30 – It’s taken over four years but it’s finally happening. Not rumours, not heightened speculation but from the man himself. David Beckham’s long-awaited team in Miami is up and running.
January 24 – UEFA is considering imposing a cap on agents’ fees following a meeting of its Professional Football Strategy Group.
January 24 – Scottish Premier League club Aberdeen look to be getting closer to approval for a new £50 million stadium and training complex to be built in the Kingsford area of the city.