London City Lionesses spend world record £1.4m on Grace Geyoro September 5, 2025 London City Lionesses have made a huge statement of intent on the eve of their Women’s Super League debut by signing France star Grace Geyoro for a new world record fee of £1.43m. The Bromley-based club, who are bankrolled by billionaire women’s football investor Michele Kang, have overhauled their squad with 17 new signings since [...]
Premier League spending gap shows why rivals are plotting overseas games September 4, 2025 It’s more than 10 years since Bernard Caiazzo, then the co-president of French club Saint-Etienne, called on Uefa to take steps to curb the rampant financial power of the Premier League. Caiazzo’s warning came after the English top division had just announced its latest record-breaking media rights deal, which he said could see it become [...]
Independent Football Regulator launches consultation on plans September 4, 2025 The incoming Independent Football Regulator (IFR) plans to have access to banks and law enforcement, as well as the ability to force rogue owners to sell clubs as guidance is published. The IFR published plans for a new Owners, Directors and Senior Executives’ Test, which they say will “raise standards and give powers to take [...]
How Michele Kang put WSL newcomers London City Lionesses on fast track September 4, 2025 If anyone needed any reminder, one incident this summer illustrated the depth of owner Michele Kang’s dedication to turning London City Lionesses from Women’s Super League anomalies into a European force. It was while the club were in the Netherlands last month for a pre-season training camp, during which they played local side FC Twente [...]
Chelsea’s transfer window and what net spend says about your club September 4, 2025 “Feel more confident about our transfer business than I have done since the fall of the Roman Empire,” wrote a Chelsea supporter friend of this column. Chelsea are of course a transfer outlier, churning a huge roster of players, deploying ultra-long contracts (and hence amortisation periods) and happy to break even in the market. How [...]
Former FA chief: I’d have hired Klopp as England boss in a heartbeat September 3, 2025 Former FA chief Alex Horne says he would have “hired Jurgen Klopp in a heartbeat” as the manager who did get the England job, Thomas Tuchel, looks to restore momentum to the World Cup qualifying campaign this weekend. Horne, who oversaw the hiring of Fabio Capello and Roy Hodgson as England managers, believes that former [...]
FA criticised for ‘obvious flaws’ in failed spot-fixing case against Paqueta September 3, 2025 The Football Association’s case against Lucas Paqueta has been criticised by the independent commission that cleared the West Ham United player of four charges of spot-fixing. The full written reasons, published today, said the FA’s decision to call its in-house betting investigator rather than an independent expert as chief witness was “an obvious flaw” in [...]
Paqueta phone celebration raises eyebrows at FA as judgement looms September 3, 2025 The Football Association is expected to publish the independent commission’s full judgement in the acquittal of Lucas Paqueta on spot-fixing charges imminently, days after spotting a possible double meaning in his goal celebration during West Ham’s win at Nottingham Forest on Sunday. After converting a penalty, the Brazilian mimed receiving a phone call and then [...]
Apollo Global Management to launch £3.75bn sport investment vehicle September 2, 2025 New York-based Apollo Global Management is reportedly planning to launch a £3.75bn investment vehicle focused on sport. The firm, which has around £600bn in assets under management, is set to invest permanent capital into sport for the first time with the new fund. Having previously held talks with LaLiga club Atletico Madrid about acquiring a [...]
Premier League clubs spend more than European rivals combined September 2, 2025 Premier League clubs highlighted the growing financial gap between English football and its rivals during the summer transfer window, spending more than the other members of the so-called Big Five combined. Teams collectively spent £3bn gross, a record sum for the division and 51 per cent of the aggregate total invested by the Big Five, [...]