FootBiz newsletter #63: New Manchester United stadium, independent regulator update and a 64-team World Cup?

There are lots of things that make football more exciting.

Taxes charged on goods imported from another country are not one of them.

Indeed, as soon as I saw on Friday that the president of the United States had claimed that the tariffs he had imposed on Canada and Mexico - the USA’s co-hosts for the 2026 World Cup - would make the tournament “more exciting” I simply closed my laptop and declared it the weekend.

By the time Monday morning came around there were loads of newsworthy bits for FootBiz so we’ve got a chunky newsletter today.

Table of Contents

• Sir Jim interview

• Villa and Chelsea set to fail UEFA test

• Untying football’s Gordian knot

• Independent regulator update

• Berta is new Arsenal sporting director

• FA unlikely to block WSL relegation pause

• Everton refinancing

• FIFA consider 64-team World Cup

• World Cup task force established

• La Liga returns to European Leagues

• Three more execs exit Man United

• Liverpool’s Adidas deal tops £300m

• Man City axe women’s boss

By the way, also from the above White House meeting: FIFA are looking to launch their own crypto ‘coin’ in order to “conquer the five billion soccer fans in the world”, per Gianni Infantino.

“That coin may be worth more than FIFA in the end. It may be quite a coin,” added President Trump.

Let the conquering commence.

Sir Jim interview

This newsletter was basically written and put to bed when an interview with Sir Jim Ratcliffe, conducted in London yesterday, was published by four outlets.

If you have 44 minutes to listen to the interview in its entirety then The Overlap published theirs on YouTube.

One interested executive questioned whether Gary Neville is the most appropriate man to interview Sir Jim, considering it was Ratcliffe who recently welcomed Neville back to Manchester United in a formal capacity by inviting him to be on the task force for a new stadium, but if you would like to hear everything from the horse’s mouth then it is the only way.

The BBC, the Daily Telegraph and The Times all carried written interviews with Ratcliffe with similar themes and responses.

Ratcliffe claimed that United would have gone bust at Christmas if they had not dramatically slashed costs recently.

Being generous, this is misleading. The club generates huge amounts of cash, they also boast the highest EBITDA in England, and they have a credit facility that should allow them more than enough flexibility to handle their business.

Yes, the cash balance could be better but if they didn’t recruit so poorly or have to make huge interest payments then they would not be making the losses they are.

Pointing at the transfer debt still owed from the previous regime’s transfers (meaning John Murtough and Ed Woodward, to be clear, though the Glazers are obviously still around) is fair in terms of highlighting how bad their transfer process has been but these were also known costs when he conducted due diligence. Naming the players and listing the payments as he did seemed a concerted attempt to sway angry fans.

There were bits about Ruben Amorim being great, Dan Ashworth being a mistake, why they should have fired Erik Ten Hag sooner and some other buck passing but the other big headline was that the club will today announce plans for "the most iconic football stadium in the world" to be built to replace Old Trafford.

Early reports suggest a 100,000-seater stadium is the plan they have settled upon, with broad local and government support for a wider regeneration project that will receive public and private investment.

Villa and Chelsea set to fail UEFA test

Aston Villa and Chelsea are expected to fail UEFA’s squad cost ratio tests, which dictate that teams playing in UEFA competitions cannot spend more than 80% of their revenue on players.

The good news for the two breaching clubs is that the punishment is a relatively small fine, likely to be in the single-digit millions for Villa and likely a little more for Chelsea.

While it is only the first UEFA SCR offence for both clubs, meaning the punishment will be less severe, Chelsea recently paid a settlement to UEFA to put an end to some Abramovich-era disciplinary cases and may be looked upon less favourably having tried to sell themselves a hotel in order to skirt punishment.

Untying football’s Gordian knot

“We are constantly told we are not a business but a sport and that we are part of the fabric of the community and that we need to prioritise winning over everything,” said Crystal Palace owner Steve Parish at last week’s Financial Times summit.

“At the same time we’re in court being treated to the Nth degree like a business.”

And Parish was spot on with this analysis, but finding a solution is somewhat more complicated.

Rob Draper wrote on Friday about the different approaches that could be taken to fix the big structural, regulatory and legal knot that football has found itself in.

Independent regulator update

The Football Governance Bill returns to the House of Lords today, with The Independent reporting that government sources are optimistic the bill will pass into law by the summer.

That confidence comes despite something of an onslaught against the bill in recent months both in parliament and the media.

Baroness Karren Brady, a shareholder and director at West Ham United, has been one of those with vested interests in the House of Lords seeking to obstruct the bill’s progress, while a concerted PR push in recent weeks has seen more editorial published in opposition to the bill.

The chance of this opposition push succeeding appears to rest on whether a coordinated effort from Tory peers can see the legislation made into a ‘hybrid’ bill which would further delay and weaken the installation of any regulator.

Berta is new Arsenal sporting director

As we trailed last week, Andrea Berta has agreed to become Arsenal's new sporting director in a significant development for the club that was first reported by The Athletic's David Ornstein last weekend. The Italian is expected to join Arsenal in the summer having left Atletico Madrid in January following 12 years in charge of recruitment for Diego Simeone's side.

Berta emerged as the outstanding candidate following a rigorous process conducted by Arsenal, who also spoke to Dan Ashworth, Real Sociedad's Roberto Olabe and Monaco's Thiago Scuro. Deputy sporting director Jason Ayto, who has been doing the job since Edu resigned in November, was also considered but will return to his old position following Berta's appointment.

The 53-year-old will arrive at the Emirates Stadium with a reputation as an aggressive recruiter and deal-maker which, along with Simeone's coaching and man-management, has helped Atletico punch above their weight in Spain for over a decade. During Berta's time in Madrid as first technical director and then sporting director, Atletico won two La Liga titles, the Europa League and reach the Champions League twice. Before moving to Spain Berta held roles similar roles at Italian clubs, including Parma and Genoa.

Arsenal are similar to Atletico in lacking the financial firepower of their main domestic rivals, with the club hoping that Berta's contacts and skills can help them make an impact in the transfer market. Having decided against signing a striker during the January window Arsenal will have a significant budget this summer and are trusting Berta to spend it wisely.

For Arsenal fans frustrated by the lack of recent signings a repeat of Berta's last window at Atletico, who signed Julian Alvarez, Conor Gallagher, Robin Le Normand and Alexander Sorloth last summer, would do nicely.

FA unlikely to block WSL relegation pause

The FA have said they could block a proposal to suspend relegation from the Women’s Super League, using its ‘golden share’ in the competition to veto the idea that had gained steam in recent weeks.

But FootBiz understands that they are unlikely to intervene in what is increasingly being talked about as a temporary measure that would allow the pyramid to financially find its feet and invest in infrastructure.

FA CEO Mark Bullingham had said that English football’s governing body would “100% not accept” a long-term banishment of relegation, leaving the door open for a temporary pause.

“I think there’s a difference between not having relegation and allowing the league to grow through promotion with no relegation versus having a closed league,” said Bullingham.

“We think that some of the ideas being put forward at the moment are worth considering on the proviso that there’s still promotion into the league.”

Nikki Doucet, the CEO of Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL) has publicly said they value promotion-relegation but left the possibility open that it disappears for a while in order to develop the pyramid further.

“We believe promotion and relegation is a great thing,” she said.

“It makes European football distinctive from other leagues, it adds jeopardy and excitement, it’s something that we all love about the game of football and that has never been in question.

“We fundamentally believe promotion and relegation is an important differentiator and also a really important competitive advantage for us relative to other women’s sports league globally.”

Doucet added: “It’s really important for us to make sure that we’re considering all of the possibilities to accelerate growth and growing in the right way.

“We wouldn’t be doing our job properly if we weren’t reviewing and considering the various options that are available to us.

“In particular, we need to see improvements in better player experiences across the entire pyramid, better fan experiences, and we really need a better player pathway for more girls of all backgrounds to have access to play football and a pathway to become a professional.

“We believe we have the best women’s football league in the world with the best players and the best fans and it’s essential for us to continue to evolve to retain that position.

“We are considering numerous options for accelerating growth, including expansion, if that is a possibility for us.”

In the deluded Camp

I consider myself very much an optimist but Barcelona believe that two months from today they’ll be hosting the clásico here?

Apparently so, and the club have denied local media reports that they might not be in their redeveloped Camp Nou until November, nearly a year beyond their original scheduled move-in date, while Relevo reports that some believe Barca won’t be able to return home until 2026.

According to reports, stadium service providers have been told they will not be required until November. A key delay, apparently, is in the construction of executive boxes which has been delayed by three months - but looking at the latest pictures that might be the least of their worries.

We await official confirmation that they’ll see out the season at Montjuic, and quite possibly longer.

Everton refinancing

Everton will save more than £50 million a year in interest repayments after agreeing a new £350m loan facility with a range of lenders including JP Morgan.

The club had been paying interest rates of up to 15 per cent on loans taken out to facilitate the building of their new stadium, which was costing them almost £70m-a-year, but with construction work now completed, new owners The Friedkin Group (TFG) have been able to secure alternative sources of lending. The new loans are around 75 per cent cheaper, with the savings to be used for stadium-related projects and to add to David Moyes' transfer budget this summer. 

TFG have been busy planning for next season with their Premier League status secure following the Moyes-led revival. Everton announced last week that Angus Kinnear is joining as chief executive from Leeds, and director of football Kevin Thelwell will be allowed to leave when his contract expires at the end of the season.

The Times subsequently reported that TFG are planning to implement a new recruitment model without a traditional all-powerful director of football. Instead of appointing a like-for-like replacement for Thelwell, Everton will instead assemble a sporting leadership team with shared responsibilities, who will report to Kinnear.

FIFA consider 64-team World Cup

More intriguing developments in FIFA-land, after the New York Times revealed last week that the world governing body will consider a proposal to expand the 2030 men’s World Cup finals to 64 teams, meaning more than a quarter of its 211 member associations would take part in the centenary tournament.

As experienced FIFA-watcher Tariq Panja reported, the controversial proposal emerged at last week's FIFA Council meeting in a supposedly spontaneous suggestion from Ignacio Alonso, the president of the Uruguayan Football Association, who will host one match in 2030 along with Paraguay and Argentina. After the first three matches in South America the remainder of the 101 games will be shared between Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

Alonso's proposal took FIFA Council members by surprise, but many are now speculating over the extent of president Gianni Infantino's involvement, particularly given FIFA immediately agreed to consider the matter in a formal statement. Such a response suggests FIFA were at the very least forewarned of the proposal, while some sources have suggested that Infantino may have used Alonso to test the water.

Whilst there would be opposition from domestic leagues, players' unions and UEFA, an expanded World Cup would be popular with many of the smaller national associations, which could benefit Infantino if he seeks re-election for a third term as president in 2027.

Infantino has repeatedly sought to expand the World Cup since he was elected president in 2016, as well as launching an expanded 32-team Club World Cup, which will take place for the first time this summer. 

 A proposal to stage the World Cup every two years put forward by Infantino's closest allies, Saudi Arabia, was abandoned three years ago, but next year's tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada will feature 48 countries for the first time, with the number of matches rising from 64 to 104. 

World Cup task force established

American vice president JD Vance is to be vice chair of a World Cup task force being set up by the White House ahead of the 2026 tournament.

An executive director will lead the task force on a day-to-day basis, but has not yet been appointed.

Cities hosting games are awaiting help from the federal government and are understood to have welcomed the move, hoping it will unlock funding from Washington.

There are also questions over visas for fans, given the US president has made tightening borders a key part of his political message.

La Liga returns to European Leagues

La Liga has returned to the European Leagues organisation, with its president Javier Tebas elected to the executive committee.

Tebas had dragged the Spanish top flight out of EL in protest at what he perceived to be a lack of support in fighting against existential threats; the Super League and FIFA/UEFA overreach.

Three more execs exit Man United

Three more Manchester United executives will leave the club as Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s “strategic review” continues.

According to The Athletic, the trio are leaving under their own volition but it is impossible to ignore the trend of senior departures.

United’s head of human resources Annie Hale, the club’s commercial director Florence Lafaye and chief commercial development officer James Holroyd are the latest executives to leave the club since Ratcliffe and INEOS bought in.

They join CEO Richard Arnold, chief legal counsel Patrick Stewart, CEO of partnerships Victoria Timpson, CFO Cliff Baty, football director John Murtough, CEO of digital Phil Lynch and former communications chief Ellie Norman in exiting Old Trafford.

Liverpool’s Adidas deal tops £300m

Liverpool have signed a five-year kit deal with Adidas worth at least £300million after ending their relationship with current supplier Nike.

The new £60m-a-year contract, which will begin on 1 August, is the third most valuable kit deal in the Premier League after Manchester United and Manchester City's deals with Adidas and Puma, which are worth £90m-a-year and £65m-a-year respectively.

Adidas also supply Arsenal, giving the German leisurewear company three of the top five kit deals in the Premier League.

Despite losing the Liverpool contract Nike are still likely to benefit from Arne Slot's side winning the Premier League, as their kit will be front and centre of the iconic images of the players' title celebrations. Liverpool will also continue to wear their existing Nike shirts during their pre-season fixtures.

Man City axe women’s boss

Manchester City have parted ways with Gareth Taylor, the head coach of their women’s team, just five days ahead of the EFL Cup final and with the club still chasing a cup treble.

City are out of the WSL title race, sitting in fourth, but face Chelsea in four consecutive games over the coming weeks with their season on the line.

After Saturday’s cup final, City and Chelsea meet in the Champions League quarter-final over two legs with a league fixture sandwiched in between. City also face cross-town rivals United in the FA Cup semi-final next month.

Moving on from Taylor was done with the hope it might “breathe fresh life” into the business end of their season.

“Manchester City prides itself on competing at the top of the WSL and on its outstanding record of qualifying for European competition," managing director Charlotte O'Neil said.

“Unfortunately, results this season have so far not reached this high standard.

“With six games of the WSL campaign remaining, we believe that a change of management will breathe fresh life into our bid to ensure qualification for the 2025/26 UEFA Women’s Champions League.

“We would like to place on record our thanks to Gareth for all of his efforts during his many years at City. Our FA Cup and League Cup triumphs will remain special moments in the history of this football club.

“We wish him all the best for the future.”