September 18 – The £20 million takeover of Championship club Barnsley looks likely to complete in the next two weeks when the English Football League complete their integrity tests on the proposed new ownership group of Chinese billionaire Chien Lee and US businessman Paul Conway.
September 15 – Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu (pictured) led a ground breaking ceremony yesterday for the club’s new Johan Cruyff stadium that will house its second team, women’s team and European matches for its U19 team.
September 13 – While Australia’s A-League club owners continue battle the Football Federation Australia (FFA) over their share of the increased A$346 million ($277.6 million) six-year broadcast deal, Australia’s women players have been won a pay agreement that will double their wages.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 12 – UEFA have been quick to deny suggestions that its president Aleksander Ceferin wants to throw Paris St Germain out of Europe over alleged lack of financial fair play compliance.
September 12 – The Premier League’s 39th game proposal rapidly became a non-starter when it received a barrage of criticism when mooted in 2012. Although ruled out again this Summer by CEO Richard Scudamore, clubs are not cold on the idea of playing league games overseas. But it could be the LaLiga that is first to break the traditional boundaries.
September 12 – A calculation of transfer fees spent on forming teams in the Big 5 leagues has found that Manchester City, with a spend of €853 million, has the most expensively assembled squad in football history.
By Paul Nicholson at the Edinburgh Sports Conference
September 7 – The transfer window just closed saw player agents earn more than $76 million in commissions England, once again the highest value market in Europe for football’s intermediaries.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 7 – Manchester City have vehemently defended their conduct in the transfer market after both they and Paris St Germain were accused by Spanish league boss Javier Tebas of “financial doping”.
September 7 – The CIES Football Observatory has published a full list of the transfer balances in of the 98 clubs from Europe’s Big 5 leagues. Just 40 clubs had a credit balance with Monaco at +€289 million topping the list and French compatriots Paris St-Germain bottom at a whopping -€343 million.
By Andrew Warshaw at Soccerex, Manchester
September 6 – Controversial Spanish league boss Javier Tebas says he will continue to speak out until the likes of Paris St Germain and Manchester City are properly held to account by UEFA for what he terms “financial doping.”
September 6 – Portuguese clubs Benfica and FC Porto top a ranking of clubs that have traded most profitably over the last year. Manchester City, PSG and Manchester United come bottom of the table.
September 5 – Transfer fees paid by clubs across Europe’s big-5 leagues jumped by 41% in the 2017 period to €5.9 billion with the Premier League clubs leading the way spending about €1.55 billion in fixed transfer fees and €220 million in conditional payments – on average about €89 million per club.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 4 – Despite insisting they have played strictly by the rules, Paris St Germain’s eye-watering spending spree during the latter part of the summer transfer window is to be investigated by UEFA for possible breaches of financial fair play.
By Paul Nicholson
September 1 – The just closed record transfer window means that gross spending by Premier League clubs has surpassed £10 billion since the first transfer window in January 2003. And according to industry analysts, clubs are not spending above their means – ridiculous as some of the amounts paid appear.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 30 – As the summer transfer market reaches its denouement and the spending spree winds up for six months, UEFA president Alexandre Ceferin has made it clear his organisation is not turning a blind eye to the financial excesses many believe are spiralling out of control.