FootBiz newsletter #104: PL and Man City settle, Barca stadium delays, Forest sack Nuno

Morning statements alert.

If you went to bed early last night in Nottingham, you are waking up to the news that the private distancing between Evangelos Marinakis and Nuno Espirito Santo that exploded into a public rift has ended in the most logical fashion… with Nuno’s sacking.

12:15 on a Tuesday morning during international break is about as “we’re trying to keep this quiet” as it can get, and Forest’s timing also suggests they will probably be announcing a replacement for the Portuguese fairly soon.

We wrote about the full Marinakis-Nuno-Edu love hate triangle a couple of weeks back and the reality was always that if the relationship wasn’t mended then it would be the coach who would be disappearing from the equation (rather than the owner or big-name hire as CEO). So it has proven, and with Ange Postecoglou having held talks with Marinakis, the late-night announcement may simply have been a prelude to an early-morning statement some time this week.

Monday morning had brought with it its own official statements and the whiff of a cease fire in Manchester City’s ongoing lawfare with the Premier League.

But while City have been very effective in past battles at leaking word of a sky blue victory when the facts might have dictated otherwise, this second Associated Parties Transaction case (APT2) does seem to be something of a win for the Manchester club.

On the face of it, the joint statement released yesterday suggested that both sides had valiantly decided to put down their weapons (think Michael Jackson in the ‘Heal the World’ video) and move on for the sake of football. Perhaps the latter is true but the seemingly amicable resolution of APT2 is expected to allow City to bank a huge new sponsorship deal with Etihad that will be among the biggest in the world, while also ensuring shareholder loans are considered as associated party transactions. That second point will affect clubs like Arsenal, Everton and Brighton, who have successfully used interest-free or low-interest loans to fund themselves.

There are few people we spoke yesterday who didn’t view this as a win for City, though the Premier League’s victory is that their biggest agitator now accepts their APT rules and the PL can stop bleeding money in legal fees.

In truth, this was not the big verdict that people have been waiting for.

The result of the 130 charges brought by the Premier League against Manchester City is expected in “the coming weeks” according to The Times and will make a far bigger splash than this quibble over sponsorship rules.

While information on that process is extremely privileged, there is an expectation that a settlement will be agreed to prevent a lengthy appeals process.

It means that on another random weekday morning at some point in the future, the biggest case in Premier League history is likely to conclude in a way that few observers are happy with. I would posit that means a relegation for City is incredibly unlikely.

Just so you can be prepared.

Table of Contents

• Spurred into action

• Forest relieve Nuno of his duties

• UEFA ExCo meets this week

• A-League loses team for upcoming season

• Stadium D-day for Barca

• FIFA coins $10m+ from ‘right to buy’ tickets

• Two more World Cup qualifiers

• West Ham row with London Stadium deepens

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