- FootBiz
- Posts
- FootBiz newsletter #59: Man United's cuts may not be over, yet more drama in Ligue 1 and why refereeing conspiracies must end
FootBiz newsletter #59: Man United's cuts may not be over, yet more drama in Ligue 1 and why refereeing conspiracies must end
Prosecutors want Napoli's owner to stand trial, plus M&A murmurs and loads more
Ed Malyon & Matt Hughes
February 25, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 18 minutes
What is the correct level of cynicism one should have? What level of suspicion and distrust is the right amount?
I only ask because there is a trend becoming pervasive in football where clubs are far too comfortable in blaming refereeing errors (or not even errors, in some instances) on corruption and conspiracy.
Where did this contagious assumption of malicious intent suddenly come from?
Some of it, surely, is rooted in the macro environment beyond sport where conspiracy theorists now hold key positions in major governments, not least the United States.
Conspiracies and cover-ups do happen, of course, but having witnessed the theories cooked up by people about media organisations where I have worked and even stories I had edited or written, I have always been more on the side of Hanlon’s Razor.
That is to say: “Never attribute to conspiracy what can more easily be explained by incompetence.”
Though Grey’s Law, furthering the same point, does acknowledge that “sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice.”
Regardless, in the last week we’ve seen three giant clubs in their respective countries - Club Brugge, Olympique Marseille and Real Madrid - all blame officiating that they didn’t like on a conspiracy.
Marseille’s Pablo Longoria was pretty extreme and left no room for misunderstanding in his outburst, saying “this is corruption. I’ve never seen anything like it. You can write it down: ‘Pablo Longoria says it’s corruption.’
“Everything has been organised. It’s planned, it’s rigged. It’s a s****y championship.
“If OM had a proposal for the Super League, we’d leave straight away.”
Unfortunately for Pablo, we suspect the Super League is never really intended to become a reality but that’s for another day.
Club Brugge president Bart Verhaeghe is expected to receive a call from federal prosecutors today after he sought out and pilloried the referee after Club Brugge’s defeat to Standard Liege at the weekend.
And Real Madrid, as we have covered before, have launched an all-out assault on the refereeing authorities in Spain after getting a few decisions they didn’t like. La Liga president Javier Tebas on Monday called them “crybabies” and joked “if they win it’s because they’ve fought against the forces of evil, and if they lose it’s always because of a conspiracy.”
One lawyer working in football wondered out loud when the first lawsuit might come, a refereeing body taking defamation action or similar against the club president who takes things one step too far.
Perhaps that’s why Longoria (though only he) walked back some of his comments on Monday, but it might require a big-mouthed CEO or president getting dragged up in front of a judge to put an end to this tiresome nonsense.
Until then, the tin foil hat chuntering will continue.
Table of Contents
If you’re a premium subscriber, a programming note that our first FootBiz event is likely to be in London on Wednesday March 12th.
Invites will go out to eligible subscribers and VIPs in the next week or so.
To become a premium subscriber click here, otherwise here’s your newsletter.
Man United’s upcoming ‘transformation’
Manchester United on Monday confirmed that they will cut up to 200 more jobs as part of another slew of cost-cutting measures being labelled a “transformation plan”.
It will take the total to nearly 500 over the last year, while an email sent to staff last week also threatened any staff leaking information to the press with the sack.
The email was subsequently leaked to the press.
Among the more surprising cuts, per The Sun, are a reduction in lunch options to soup and sandwiches only for everyone except the first-team players.
In the end, it is the normal working folk who are paying the price for how badly the club has been run. An ally of Sir Jim Ratcliffe last week commented to me that these cuts are needed to place a bloated, poorly run business on an even footing but these minuscule sums pale into comparison with the true cause of the megaclub’s struggles.
United’s revenues have suffered because of poor on-field performance, something that pre-dated Ratcliffe and INEOS’ intervention but which has also got worse since their arrival.
Only playing in the Europa League rather than Champions League this season saw around £50m less revenue and that figure will get even worse next year unless United can somehow qualify for Europe. The only realistic way of doing so would involve winning the Europa League, and that is where all their efforts should be focused.
INEOS have made cuts and will continue to cut
Their on-field struggles are part of the reason that the club with the highest average attendance, highest revenue, highest EBITDA and one of the lowest wages-to-turnover ratios in the Premier League has made five years of consecutive losses.
But a far bigger reason is the Glazers’ ownership.
The Glazer family’s leveraged buyout has seen over £800m in interest payments flow out of the club during their stewardship. Even after that, the club still has the third-highest debt in the Premier League (£731m) just behind two clubs who have recently built new state-of-the-art stadiums - Tottenham (£851m) and Everton (£792m). United still have to fund and build theirs.
United have also paid out over £150m in dividends, which is easy to compare to other Premier League clubs because none of them pay out dividends.
In short, the cause of their problems is upstairs but it is those downstairs who are suffering.
By my rough calculations, the total swing between Man United losing or winning a hypothetical Europa League final this May would be around £200m.
Should United not manage to win UEFA’s second-tier competition then it won’t just be more jobs being cut next year but severe cuts all over the business.
In other words, this may not be rock bottom quite yet.
Dig deeper:
Rising from the Ashes
Speaking of Manchester United, Dan Ashworth has picked up his first new role since departing Old Trafford as technical director, taking an advisory position at Warwickshire County Cricket Club.
The consultancy position, which will include advising a newly-appointed performance director at Edgbaston, will pay far less than the £4.1m Ashworth earned for just 155 days' work at Old Trafford.
Warwickshire are Ashworth's local cricket club and he has had a relationship with the county since he joined their cricket audit committee in 2021, when he was still at Brighton.
John Textor is proceeding with plans for an initial public offering of Eagle Football Holdings alongside a proposed £230m investment in the company from Sportsbank. Bloomberg reported last week that Eagle have instructed American bank UBS Group to file for an IPO next month.
Textor's management of multi-club group Eagle, which owns Crystal Palace, Lyon, Botafogo and RWD Molenbeek and attempted to buy Everton last year, is the source of ongoing intrigue. In October, Eagle announced plans for a $1.1 billion recapitalization, with $600m to be raised from the sale of stakes in several clubs including Palace, and $500 million from an IPO.
The Palace sale has not materialised, but last month Sportbank announced they had entered exclusivity over a £230m investment in Eagle. It is unclear whether the investment group will take Textor's seat on the Board at Selhurst Park as part of that model.
They aren’t the only question marks surrounding his plans, but all should be clarified soon.
Textor vs Al-Khelaifi continues… on and off the pitch
Beyond the IPO and Sportsbank sale, the energetic Textor is preoccupied by his ongoing battle in France with Paris Saint Germain Nasser Al-Khelaifi.
Following last week's extraordinary reports in L'Equipe of the heated row over TV rights negotiations last summer, in which Al-Khelaifi allegedly called Textor a “cowboy”, the American did not shy away from the controversy.
Having called Al-Khelaifi a “bully” and a “tyrant” while bringing attention to the conflict of his dual role as chairman of Ligue 1 TV rights partner BeIN Sports, Textor embraced the cultural heritage that had been ascribed to him by parading on the pitch wearing a cowboy hat before Lyon's 3-2 home defeat to PSG on Sunday before discussing it afterwards.
Textor poses for the cameras with a cowboy hat
“I wore the hat because I was feeling confident, but I don’t really see myself as a cowboy,” said Textor. “We had intense discussions with Nasser Al-Khelaïfi regarding TV rights, and I wasn’t even aware he had called me a cowboy. When I heard about it, I thought it would be funny to show up with the hat.”
Textor hails from Kirksville, Missouri where the biggest employer in condiment conglomerate Kraft Heinz rather than any cattle ranch. Lyon lost 3-2.
The home fans treated Al-Khelaifi to a Lyonnaise welcome with banners protesting his conflicts of interest and perceived vice grip on French football.
In one of a number of banners on Sunday, Al-Khelaifi is pictured as the puppet-master controlling journalists and politicians.
Around the picture is written: "Qatari mafia", "LFP cronies (French Professional Football League)", and "political demagogues".
A different banner read: “Swindles and corruption, Qatar is killing French football" while a third referenced the leaked audio of July’s LFP call, saying: "Nasser, don't just quit Teams calls. Quit French football!”
The theme is consistent with protests from Bayern fans when PSG played in Munich during the Champions League in the autumn.
Textor himself is no stranger to these sorts of protests, with Crystal Palace fans last year erecting a banner saying:
"Multi-club ownership. Stock market gambling. Textor, we don’t trust you."
Liverpool’s golden farewell
Liverpool could end their Nike deal with up to £8m in bonuses this summer if they can carry through their form until the end of the season and win the Premier League and Champions League.
The American sportswear giant is on the hook for nearly £10m in incentives should Arne Spot’s side sweep all before them, with a £4m bonus for winning the Premier League seemingly secured after a pivotal weekend in the title race.
Should the Reds be able to navigate their way past Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League and reach the final then they will pick up another £4m with £2m more on offer for winning the European Cup.
Adidas take over as Liverpool’s kit supplier in the summer and sources say they are expected to lean on their retro credentials, having previously outfitted the Anfield club during successful periods of the 1980s, 1990s and then again a decade ago.
M&A Murmurs
Drawn-out barely begins to describe the arduous and seemingly never-ending process that has been the search for new ownership at Reading.
But the Royals announced today that they are, once more, under exclusivity with a potential buyer.
In a statement which didn’t say much, the key details were probably that the anonymous bidder’s agreement “includes the transfer of Mr Dai’s shareholding in The Reading Football Club Limited, as well as the Select Car Leasing Stadium and Bearwood Park Training Facility.”
Not separating the club, training ground and stadium is vital for the future sustainability of the club and has been a dealbreaker for many interested parties.
The statement also says the “structure of the deal should allow for a quick completion”, which would run in contrary to everything else that has happened during this process but we are hoping there is finally light at the end of the tunnel for Reading fans.
Often in this situation, a previous potential buyer would be willing to sell the due diligence they had conducted to another suitor in order to speed up the process.
The divergence in regulations between the Premier League and EFL has been illustrated once again in discussions surrounding a proposed takeover of Glasgow Rangers, with potentially significant ramifications for the £50m deal.
An American consortium, including Leeds United chairman and San Francisco 49ers executive Paraag Marathe, have entered exclusive negotiations over buying a 51 per cent stake at Ibrox and are hopeful of finalising the deal before the end of the season. Healthcare investor Andrew Cavenagh, who made his millions building Philadelphia-based health insurance firm ParetoHealth, is also part of the consortium.
All parties are in broad agreement on a deal, including the largest individual shareholder Dave King. The primary obstacle to a deal previously has been the debt owed to former chairman John Bennett, which the 49ers would take on as part of the transaction.
Rangers lost around £17m after tax (EBITDA: -£200k) on revenue of £88.3m in their 2023/24 accounts.
Marathe's involvement at Elland Road, where the 49ers have been 100 per cent owners for the last two years following the NFL franchise's £170m purchase from Andrea Radrizzani, could however scupper the deal if Leeds are not promoted to the Premier League this season. EFL regulations prohibit any form of dual ownership of clubs in other competitions - including the Premier League and Scottish Premier League - so Marathe would not be permitted to take a stake in Rangers if Leeds remain in the Championship.
The Premier League's rules are more permissive, and numerous club owners including Manchester United, Manchester City and Crystal Palace have stakes in other clubs. In a model similar to Marathe's plans for Rangers, Bournemouth owner Bill Foley bought a 25 per cent stake in SPL club Hibernian through his Black Knight investment group last year, although this would have been blocked had the Bournemouth not been promoted to the Premier League the previous season.
This lack of alignment between the Premier League and EFL has caused problems for both organisations, particularly regarding their repeated regulatory battles with Leicester City, who have escaped profit and sustainability charges from both leagues. Due to discrepancies between their two rulebooks Leicester have twice been able to argue that they should not be subject to Premier League spending rules following relegation to the EFL, and vice versa. There is a desire in both organisations for closer alignment, although until a new Premier League funding package for the lower divisions has been agreed a harmonisation of regulations is unlikely to take place.
Prime Angus at Everton?
Everton are interested in hiring Leeds United CEO Angus Kinnear for the same role as The Friedkin Group looks to refresh its executive team ahead of an exciting new era for the club.
With survival in the Premier League looking increasingly secure, optimism can creep in on Merseyside with their new, state-of-the-art stadium about to open.
The club hasn’t had a permanent CEO since the summer of 2023 and Kinnear is not the only candidate, but the former West Ham managing director, who spent a decade at Arsenal, is thought to be the leading contender.
Prosecutors want Napoli owner to stand trial
Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis is facing an indictment over alleged financial irregularities.
The Rome public prosecutor's office is seeking to indict Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis over allegations of falsifying financial accounts between 2019 and 2021, according to reports from Italian media.
Prosecutors are calling for De Laurentiis, who has owned the Serie A club since 2004, to stand trial alongside his advisor Andrea Chiavelli and the club itself. The allegations primarily concern the transfers of Kostas Manolas from AS Roma in 2019 and Victor Osimhen’s move from Lille the following year.
In response, De Laurentiis’s lawyers, Fabio Fuller and Lorenzo Contrada, dismissed the request for a trial as "incomprehensible."
"The case documents contain assessments from consultants and independent bodies that irrefutably demonstrate Napoli acted lawfully and in full compliance with Italian accounting principles," they stated.
"We are confident that the proceedings will reach a favorable conclusion."
Rubiales found guilty
The former president of the Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales has been convicted of sexually assaulting footballer Jenni Hermoso by forcibly kissing her after Spain’s 2023 Women’s World Cup victory.
A judge at Spain’s national court found Rubiales guilty of sexual assault but acquitted him of attempting to coerce Hermoso into downplaying the incident.
Rubiales, who faced a potential two-and-a-half-year prison sentence, was instead fined over €13,000 (£10,800) and prohibited from approaching Hermoso within 200 meters or contacting her for a year.
Three federation employees accused of pressuring Hermoso to declare the kiss consensual as they scrambled to clean up Rubiales’ mess were cleared of coercion charges.
Rubiales’ appeal against his ban by world governing body FIFA at the Court of Arbitration for Sport was also denied rejected on Friday.
The cost of City’s CL exit
Manchester City’s elimination by Real Madrid in the Champions League play-off round will see the club earn approximately £26 million less from UEFA prize money than last season.
City earned around £90m from UEFA last year, including £3.3m for winning the 2023 Super Cup, but this season’s earnings are projected at around £64m from the group stage and play-offs.
Champions League revenues are distributed through:
Equal Share – split among all participants.
Value Pillar – rewards teams based on past performance.
Performance-Based Earnings – tied to match results.
City’s previous successes in the competition (value pillar) actually saw them earn £3.9m more than Aston Villa in the group stage despite finishing lower in the new, expanded league phase.
However, with group-stage wins worth £1.7m each and draws £579,000, City lost millions by winning just three of their eight matches, compared to six last season.
They also missed out on:
£9.3m for failing to reach the Round of 16.
£10.6m for not making the quarter-finals.
Up to £28m for missing the semi-finals and final.