FootBiz newsletter #21: Arsenal's inner workings, a key Premier League vote and a wild tale from Mexico

One of the great things about football is that it doesn’t make sense.

The biggest club on Earth adding Kylian Mbappe to their already fearsome forward line (that had just won the Champions League) should have supercharged them and blasted them into a different stratosphere, especially with Barcelona’s financial issues and loss of coach Xavi, only a year on from winning them a La Liga title.

Instead, Barca have won 11 of their 12 games to open up a nine-point lead over their eternal rivals while Madrid struggle to find balance with Vinicius Jr, Jude Bellingham and Mbappe keen to occupy the same areas of the pitch and yet to click.

Robert Lewandowski looked like his career was petering out last season and now he is not only the Pichichi, La Liga’s top scorer, but he has twice as many goals (14) as the second player on the list. The top three players on the goal contributions rankings (which also includes assists) are all Barcelona players. The club now boasts three wins from four in the Champions League too and look set for the knockout stages.

Which is to say, the things that seem obvious sometimes may not be.

Arsenal have lost Edu, their sporting director who many felt was a key cog in their system with significant (though not total) responsibility for their return to the category of Premier League title contender after years of aimless wandering in the post-Wenger era. But who is to say they aren’t about to stumble upon someone who can take them to the next level, win multiple titles and their first-ever Champions League?

Premium subscribers received a terrific piece by Rob Draper in their inboxes yesterday, detailing who has the power at the Emirates, what Edu did (and didn’t) do at the club and a load more.

It’s a great example of the sort of thing you can get if you upgrade your subscription to a premium tier that starts at £3.99.

I asked ChatGPT for a list of things that our subscription is cheaper than, just to emphasise what great value it is.

You don’t need yet another travel-sized toiletry kit, do you?

Otherwise, let’s get going.

Table of Contents

• PL/APT latest

• City rivals seek damages

• Infantino rekindles Trump relationship

• M&A Murmurs

• Mendy wins City case

PL/APT latest

The Premier League has called a meeting for later this month in which clubs will vote on amendments to the Associated Party Transaction rules.

Ahead of what promises to be a testy affair, the league circulated a 14-page document that has been seen by a number of British newspapers, outlining changes that sound a lot like a softening of the previous rules which were declared unlawful during a summer hearing prompted by Manchester City sued the league.

Since that judgement was made public, City have insisted that amendments are not sufficient and that they all should be declared null and void. They also threatened further legal action.

One of the key conclusions from the independent panel of retired judges was that shareholder loans should be subject to the same Fair Market Value (FMV) tests that associated party transactions such as sponsorship agreements are. Their inclusion is one of three major changes being put forward. The amendments outlined in the document circulated this week would also allow much bigger deals between clubs and other businesses that share the same owner.

In addition, some small but consequential changes to wording and definitions are being proposed. FMV’s definition would be tweaked slightly while “normal market conditions” has been deleted. Other changes suggest that it will be much harder to prove sponsorships are of inflated value, with one club executive predicting that only the most egregious deals have any chance of being flagged.

Of course, these are just proposed amendments that are heading for a vote. Whether the Premier League can get the 14 votes required to pass them given the inclusion of shareholder loans and ongoing anger towards the league from a handful of other clubs is a different question entirely. At least the food will be good, with the meeting set to take place at the Nobu Hotel in London.

Read more:

City rivals seek damages

A number of Manchester City’s rivals have prepared arbitration cases that would seek compensation from the Premier League champions should they be found guilty in the ongoing 115 charges case.

Several clubs were advised by external lawyers that they should reserve the right to seek damages for loss of income from City if they’re found to have cheated. That could be teams that came second and missed out on title-winning revenue, teams that finished fifth and missed out on a Champions League windfall or any number of other scenarios during the seasons when City are alleged to have broken the rules.

Some legal figures estimate that if City were to be found guilty of the most serious charges then it may cost them hundred of millions in compensation. For their part, City have maintained their innocence throughout and expect to be cleared.

The story came to light because City’s rivals were forced to make their moves by Tuesday due to the 1980 Limitation Act, which contains a six-year limitation period for certain legal claims. November 5, 2018 was the date of Der Spiegel’s original publication of the ‘Football Leaks’ files, where evidence that City might have breached the rules first became public. The Premier League opened their investigation a month later.

Infantino rekindles Trump relationship

FIFA president Gianni Infantino was quick out of the blocks in offering congratulations to Donald Trump following his extraordinary Presidential election victory yesterday, which was hardly a surprise, as they have a great deal in common. The pair are both self-styled strong men who take an autocratic approach to leadership, with the democratic ideal very much a means to an end rather than the foundation stone of their beliefs. And both are also partial to a dollar bill.

Infantino was invited to the White House by Trump shortly after his first election victory in 2016, and they have also dined together in Davos, and his return to the Oval Office is likely to make life easier for FIFA ahead of next year's Club World Cup in the United States and the real thing the following year. 

The Democrats and FIFA have been uneasy bedfellows since the FBI investigation that led to 11 senior officials pleading guilty to corruption charges and the resignation of president Sepp Blatter in 2015, when Barack Obama was President.

Trump was in office when the USA won the right to stage the 2026 World Cup six years ago, with another strong-man Vladimir Putin in attendance at the vote in Moscow. 

Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner was heavily involved in securing international support for the USA bid, particularly in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia, while The Athletic reported earlier this week that he also played a role this year in ensuring the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey was given the World Cup final.

While Trump is no football fan the 78-year-old is attracted to powerful people, and Infantino is certainly that. The Swiss-Italian already has a home in Miami, where FIFA's legal and compliance division are based, and he will not miss an opportunity to seen alongside Trump over the coming years.

M&A Murmurs

Private equity boss Steve Rosen is on the verge of completing a £105 million takeover at Sheffield United. Rosen is leading a consortium of Silicon Valley investors who have agreed to buy out Prince Abdullah, ending his turbulent 10-year spell at Bramall Lane, which featured an acrimonious legal battle with co-owner Kevin McCabe and mounting financial problems.

Abdullah beat McCabe in court to pick up the 50 per cent of the club for just £5m, but has been unable or unwilling to fund United adequately in recent years. 

United were put under a transfer embargo by the EFL last year for defaulting on payments owed to other clubs for signing players, and without winning promotion to the Premier League they may have been forced into administration.

Abdullah's desperation to sell was such that he accepted a bid from Nigerian businessman Dozy Mmobuosi, who has since been charged with multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The EFL had raised concerns about Mmobuosi while conducting due diligence and are currently in the process of assessing the members of Rosen's consortium, but have yet to identify any red flags.

The owner of Liga MX clubs Pachuca and Leon, Jesús Martínez Patiño, has 20 days to sell one of his clubs after FIFA confirmed their Club World Cup rules forbid two competing teams from having the same majority owner.

Mexican newspaper Record reported that the owners of Club America went to FIFA to complain about the situation, hoping they would replace one of the Grupo Pachuca teams. Article 10 of the Club World Cup rules state that FIFA would decide which club drops out in the case of multiple ownership, while it is unclear which they would trim given both qualified in the same way - by winning the CONCACAF Champions League (Leon in 2023 and Pachuca in 2024).

The alternative, in order to avoid one of the clubs being forcibly removed, is to quickly sell a club and Martinez is privately understood to be looking for buyers for Leon and unwilling to part with Pachuca. FIFA’s deadline is thought to only apply to an outline agreement rather than full closing of a deal, which would be an impossible timeline.

Liga MX is increasingly a league of focus for investors, with profitable clubs that boast huge fanbases in a football-mad country. Mexico is also a co-host of the 2026 World Cup, bringing significant tailwinds, and valuations have been soaring with Club America ($750m) ranked the 25th most valuable club in the world by Sportico.

Mendy wins City case

Manchester City face the prospect of some difficult negotiations with former defender Benjamin Mendy after the Manchester Employment Tribunal ruled yesterday that he his entitled to "the majority of his unpaid salary" from the club.

The France international was suspended without pay by City in September 2021 after he was charged with rape and sexual assault the previous month, and the club did not pay him anything until he left at the end of his contract almost two years later.

Mendy brought a claim against City for £11m in unpaid wages for the 22 months he remained at the club before being found not guilty at a second trial at Chester Crown Court a month after leaving City. In a judgement yesterday Judge Joanne Dunlop ruled that City were entitled to withhold Mendy’s salary for the periods he was in custody, which totalled five months, but not for the rest of the time as he was available to train and play.

Whilst the judgement doesn’t make an award to Mendy sources close to the player have told FootBiz that he is entitled to around £8.5m in unpaid wages. The exact figure and timescale for payment will now be agreed by negotiation between Mendy and City. If they fail to agree the matter will go to arbitration.