Britain is running out of new ideas and it’s killing productivity July 16, 2021 It is no secret that Britain is in a productivity slump. The statistics should be familiar. In the decade before the pandemic, productivity grew at just 0.3 per cent per year. Before the financial crisis, it grew at 2 per cent. That might sound like an abstract or wonkish concern, but it is the difference [...]
Man City owner raises almost half a billion to fund further expansion – reports July 16, 2021 City Football Group, the owner of Manchester City and a host of other clubs across the world, has raised almost half a billion-worth of debt capital according to reports this morning. The Group has raised $650m (£470m) to finance international ambitions, according to sources who spoke to the Financial Times. The seven-year package has been [...]
What Amazon is doing with French football rights and the clues it offers to its plans for the Premier League July 14, 2021 Amazon is yet to make its widely anticipated big move for Premier League football rights, being content so far to buy up handfuls of live games and bundle them with its Prime Video subscription. But it is a different story in France, where the e-commerce behemoth is embarking on its first season as the main [...]
Arsenal to follow rivals Tottenham by featuring in Amazon All or Nothing behind-the-scenes documentary July 9, 2021 Arsenal are to become the latest club to get the Amazon documentary treatment after agreeing to let cameras follow them next season. The Gunners are the third Premier League team to feature in the All Or Nothing series, after north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and current champions Manchester Cit. “Arsenal is a historic club going [...]
Goldman Sachs model backs England to win Euro 2020 final – but only after more nail-biting extra-time July 8, 2021 England have a 58 per cent chance of winning the Euro 2020 final against Italy, according to Goldman Sachs. The investment bank’s analysts have modelled the probability of football coming home on Sunday at Wembley using more than 40 years’ worth of data. And their prediction is that England will overcome Italy and win their [...]
Meet Kasper Hjulmand, the ‘tactical geek, football idealist and world-class coach’ of Denmark plotting England exit in Euro 2020 semi-finals July 6, 2021 A joke doing the rounds in Denmark is that if Kasper Hjulmand stood for election now he would be voted in as prime minister by a landslide. Hjulmand’s rocketing popularity is partly down to his steering of the national team to a Euro 2020 semi-final, where they will meet England at Wembley on Wednesday evening. [...]
Freedom day: Boris Johnson confirms big bang shedding of Covid restrictions for 19 July July 5, 2021 Boris Johnson has confirmed there will be a big bang shedding of Covid restrictions in England, with mass events set to return without social distancing or face masks from 19 July for so-called freedom day. Johnson said the government will be imposing very few Covid restrictions from now on and will instead rely on people [...]
Tottenham Hotspur’s £15.5m offer for Bologna defender Takehiro Tomiyasu rejected July 5, 2021 Tottenham Hotspur’s £15.5m offer for Bologna defender Takehiro Tomiyasu has been rejected. The Italian club had valued the player at £17.2m. Apart from Bologna, Tomiyasu is a key player in the Japanese squad with 23 caps and a goal for his country. Tottenham is looking for fresh players as current right back Serge Aurier has [...]
Juventus turn to share issue in bid to plug €400m hole caused by Covid and collapse of European Super League project July 1, 2021 Juventus hope to raise €400m via a share issue to compensate for heavy losses during the pandemic and the stalling of plans for a European Super League. The Turin football club, current home to superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, said it expected losses for the 2019-2022 period to reach €320m. Juventus were one of the driving forces [...]
Liverpool shareholders RedBird Capital set to buy stake in Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals June 24, 2021 RedBird Capital Partners, a shareholder in Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group, is buying a stake in Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket franchise Rajasthan Royals, according to reports. New York-based RedBird is buying 15 per cent of the Royals in a deal that values the team at $250m, says the FT. The transaction continues the trends [...]