FootBiz newsletter #54: Premier League has no plans for US games, Newcastle face big decision

Now the dust has settled on the transfer window, we can settle in and prepare for the home straight.

Next stop: business end of the season - though we do have a couple of international breaks to contend with first.

After some more sober reflection on the January additions, the clubs that appear to have done the best business are those who simply managed to avoid subtraction of talent.

Retention of talent is just as important, and Liverpool’s seemingly imminent extensions for Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, Bayern’s locking down of Alphonso Davies and Wolves’ renewal of Matheus Cunha are all more important for those clubs than any new player to sign for them last month. (Thought notably absent from that list is Trent Alexander-Arnold, who would be roughly, and unforgivably, a £100m loss)

I also like looking at the deals that didn’t happen, and what they tell us.

Chelsea had a bid rejected for Murillo on deadline day that would have been Nottingham Forest’s record sale. You imagine he’ll attract more bids in the summer, but Chelsea’s window ended with them having too many defenders already - so what was the point? As ever with them, it’s best to not even try and make sense of it. Everton reportedly offered £15m for Tom Fellows, the exciting young winger at West Bromwich Albion. He’ll be a big summer target too. Benfica pulled the plug on a move for Tyrell Malacia late on deadline day, something Man United are keen to paint as a show of strength but which simply keeps an unwanted player in place for six pointless months. Tottenham’s rejected bid for Marc Guehi was just the precursor for a summer bidding war that Palace have now bet big on, rejecting significant offers in the last two windows with his contract ticking down. Brentford fought off interest in Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo, but aren’t they supposed to be the great data club? Why have they never cashed in and replaced for buttons? And what of Chelsea’s unrealistic valuations of Joao Felix, who ended up going on loan, and Christopher Nkunku, which scared off potential buyers? They need to get a grip on their trading.

All of those remind us that getting recruitment right is not just about buying well, and retaining the right talent, but selling well too.

Brighton have been the greatest sellers in recent history, making the biggest-ever profit by a Premier League club because of it, but they were asking for astronomical fees for Tariq Lamptey and Evan Ferguson a couple of years ago and now would be lucky to get anything for the full-back, whose contract is up in June, and sent Ferguson on a dry loan to West Ham after he has struggled for first-team football this year. They surely wish they had sold them at peak.

(I’ll give them a pass on not selling 27-year-old Kaoru Mitoma to Saudi Arabia for £75m because the player apparently didn’t want to go.)

Anyway. Transfer talk locked away for the next few months while we sort out who is going to win the trophies and court cases that we all really tune in for.

To the contents!

Table of Contents

• PL meeting

• Newcastle’s stadium decision

• PL backs players in FIFA battle

• Premier League not pursuing games in US

• M&A Murmurs

• Rash decision

• Banter clause

• Tout Boehly

PL meeting

The first Premier League shareholders meeting of the year will take place next week, with the shadow of Manchester City's legal challenge still looming large. The meeting of club executives in London next Thursday will take place a year to the day since the Premier League first informed their members that an unnamed club was taking legal action against them, in a challenge to the competition's Associated Party Transaction rules.

City's decision to open a second front in their battle with the Premier League, with the case running parallel to the 115 FFP charges hearing, has dominated top-flight politics ever since and has still not been definitively resolved. Following last summer's arbitration and the "score-draw" judgement in October, the Premier League achieved a significant victory the following month when the clubs voted 16/4 to pass amendments to the existing APT rules, elements of which had been deemed unlawful the three-person arbitration panel. 

The most significant change was the removal of the phrase “normal market conditions” from the regulations, theoretically increasing the level of commercial deals that can be agreed by some clubs. As a result of the change, related companies can now argue they have a special interest in sponsoring their partner club at a level which other companies would not see as worth the money.

Despite being among the major beneficiaries of this change City have not accepted it, and continue to argue that the existing rules should be declared void and be completely rewritten. The Premier League referred the matter back to the arbitration panel to rule on implementation, with three retired judges meeting for a two-day hearing last month.

The Premier League are expecting a ruling at the the start of next week, which it will pass on to the clubs before a so-called strategy day on Wednesday. The arbitration panel is chaired by Sir Nigel Teare, a former head of the High Court’s Commercial Court, and also comprises Lord John Dyson KC, a former Master of the Rolls, and Christopher Vajda KC, who was the UK's judge at the European Court of Justice from 2012 until 2020.

Newcastle’s stadium decision

Newcastle United are in the final stages of deciding on their path forward after a prolonged consultation on options for their St James’ Park home.

The club had been favouring a renovation of their city centre home, but as projected costs have spiralled to almost match the price of a new stadium there is “growing momentum” to build afresh according to The Telegraph.

A new stadium would slightly overlap with their existing ground but require some rotation and building into Leazes Park, which sits behind the stadium. St James’ Park is hemmed in on the other side by some listed buildings.

As ever with projects with this level of disruption, there remains a need for approval from city and other local authorities, not least the permission to build on Leazes Park itself.

A bigger question is where Newcastle would play during any period where the stadium was out of commission. Rivalry would dictate that Sunderland’s Stadium of Light is out of the question, while Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium poses the same issue.

Hull’s MKM Stadium, Elland Road in Leeds and even Murrayfield in Edinburgh would be the closest appropriate stadia, with a temporary move to Scotland an intriguing possibility for a club looking to grow its fanbase.

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PL backs players in FIFA battle

The Premier League have renewed their strong criticism of FIFA for disrupting domestic leagues and adding to player workload by creating a 32-team Club World Cup. 

In a briefing to UK journalists this week chief football officer, Tony Scholes, made it clear that the Premier League are supporting the legal action being taken by unions the PFA and FIFPRO against FIFA, who they have accused of failing to consult the players over significant changes to the international match calendar.

Manchester City midfielder and Ballon D'Or winner Rodri, who may miss the inaugural Club World Cup this summer after undergoing ACL surgery last October, is one of a number of leading players who have complained that the new tournament will increase the risks of player burnout and injury. The Premier League are sympathetic to the players' plight, although that sympathy does not extend to accommodating requests from Club World Cup competitors City and Chelsea to be given a delayed start to next season. 

The 2025/26 campaign will kick off on 16 August, little over a month after the Club World Cup final on 13 July, with Scholes blaming FIFA for the bloated schedule.
"We're having this imposed upon us, particularly by Fifa," he said. "So there's an element saying, 'Why would we be adjusting our competition when they've imposed a competition that we don't agree with?'

"That's one element. But the more significant element, though, is we simply can't. The calendar is squeezed as much as it can be at the moment. And we can't afford the start of the season.

"On this matter we are fully aligned with the PFA and FIFPRO in the legal action taken against Fifa with regard to the imposition of the international match calendar."

Premier League not pursuing games in US

Scholes also ruled out staging competitive Premier League games in the United States despite the wishes of many club owners, half of whom are American. 

"Over the last couple of years we have played a number of pre-season games in the US," he said. "We have an excellent broadcast partner in the US and viewing figures are strong there. So I would say I don't see a need to do that. And I could absolutely say there's no conversations taking place to do it."

This stance remains in stark contrast to La Liga, who have only been thwarted in their goal of playing league games Stateside by political wrangling.

M&A Murmurs

Reading’s on-again, off-again (but mainly off-again) takeover is… off again.

“The club can confirm exclusivity with the buyer cited previously has now expired,” they said in a statement.

“Discussions with alternatives are underway with the focus remaining to sell to a buyer who has the intent and resource to take the club forward. Several credible bidders have declared interest, some with experience in navigating football transactions, and the club are working with all relevant stakeholders to agree terms at the earliest opportunity.”

“Whilst the club acknowledges the previously failed transactions are disappointing for everyone, especially our supporters, it is anticipated the legal and due diligence work completed so far will prove advantageous when trying to move new bids forward. Despite funding concerns last month, the club can confirm HMRC and staff wages were fulfilled on time with Mr Dai contributing funds towards this.”

FootBiz understands that Paul Taylor retains an interest in buying the club but would have to do so as an individual rather than through his company. As the statement says, his exclusivity has expired, and the word is that a newer group are now in pole position and considered the closest to reaching exclusive negotiations.

With how this process has gone, achieving exclusivity is far from a guarantee of a deal.

Despite having an incredibly young squad, the Royals have somewhat overachieved on the pitch this season. New boss Noel Hunt has them close to the playoffs and hoping to cling on for a chance of promotion after Ruben Selles jumped ship to Hull City, but his job was made more difficult by the forced sales of Sam Smith and Tyler Bindon in January. Bindon will at least return to the club on loan.

Rash decision

This week in unforeseen circumstances, Marcus Rashford could see his endorsement income dip by 70% or more after joining Aston Villa on loan.

The England striker signed a seven-year deal with Nike in 2021, when he was one of the best-regarded athletes in the country after leading the charge to feed hungry children in the north of England.

But by the terms of that agreement, Rashford’s estimated £1.5m annual sponsorship with Nike could fall to around £500k after leaving ‘Category A’ Manchester United for Villa.

Per The Daily Mail, Rashford’s lack of goals and appearances will also mean him missing out on income tied to the Nike agreement. The American sportswear giant could even request repayment of some of his hefty signing bonus, the Mail also reports.

Underlining how fickle the sponsor business can be, it is understood that Rashford has not had deals with Burberry, Beats or Levi Jeans renewed.

Banter clause

Nico Gonzalez signing for Manchester City in a €60m deal this week was heralded by the Catalan press as being a great move for Barcelona.

After all, when La Masia graduate Nico moved to FC Porto in 2023 for €8.4m, Barcelona included a 40% sell-on clause and a €30m buyback in the transfer just in case the playmaker became a star and, say, Manchester City tried to sign him.

But in the latest example of the club selling off future revenues for a quick buck right now, it turns out that Barca agreed to halve the sell-on and cancelled the buyback option in exchange for just €3m from the Portuguese giants.

While that still means Barca getting €10m (to add to the €3m for the cancellation and the €8.4m initial fee) for the midfielder, they missed out on a potential windfall had they kept the buyback clause and flipped him to City themselves for a €30m profit.

Tout Boehly

Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly is the part-owner and director of an unauthorised ticket resale company that is advertising tickets for Premier League matches this season for up to £17,000-per-game. 

The Daily Telegraph revealed on Tuesday that Boehly is a shareholder in Vivid Seats, a US-based online marketplace which re-sells tickets to fans outside Britain. The company is on the Premier League's list of "unauthorised ticketing websites" and are not permitted to sell tickets in the UK.

Vivid Seats do sell tickets for top-flight games at a huge mark-up to fans based overseas however, raising the possibility that Boehly is profiting financially from a practice that has been repeatedly condemned by his own club and the Premier League. 

The Telegraph reported that Vivid Seats are advertising tickets featuring every Premier League club for the rest of the season. On Monday, tickets for table-topping Liverpool's final game against Crystal Palace - when they could be presented with the Premier League trophy - were priced between £1,622 and £17,672.