FootBiz newsletter #65: 3pm blackout criticism, San Siro future and how Man United will fund new stadium

International break means different things for different people but this month it serves as a reminder for FootBiz that we are still waiting for the Manchester City 130 charges verdict.

We are trying to work out if it would be very Premier League to let this news drop during a quiet week when England are playing fairly inconsequential qualifiers against Albania and Latvia or whether it just depends on who has won the case.

There’s a lot of newsy bits in today’s newsletter, but if you’re also after a deeper dive into something then get stuck into Rob’s piece on Bournemouth owner Bill Foley, who is bringing a bit of Vegas to a sleepy Dorset suburb.

We also have a fairly unusual item today as a member of the royal family (the real one, not the Beckhams) weighs in on… not being able to watch 3pm kickoffs while foreigners can.

Yep. All good stuff.

Table of Contents

• How Man United will fund New Trafford

• Prince criticises 3pm blackout

• Milan tried to hijack Berta hire

• Lazio ban

• Man United and Spurs intertwined

• Foster care

• Barca refinancing stadium debt

• San Siro update

• M&A Murmurs

• Wolves reduce losses

• Paqueta to fight fixing charges in person

• Vard knock life

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How Man United will fund New Trafford

Manchester United's new stadium will be funded by a combination of bank lending, bonds and fresh equity, with the club aiming to raise between £1bn and £1.2bn on the debt markets, according to sources familiar with their plans.

The rest of the stadium's estimated £2bn price tag would be funded by an injection of equity, either from Sir Jim Ratcliffe or new investors. There is no expectation at Old Trafford of the Glazer family putting more money into the club.

United have yet to hold any formal discussions with lenders as Ratcliffe's plans were only announced last week. Bank of America already lend to the club, while Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase helped fund Ratcliffe's £1.25bn investment last year. 

Multiple sources who work in the capital markets suggested that United could expect to be quoted interest rates of between six and eight per cent, depending upon when exactly the funding is agreed.

United currently have a £400m bond issue that matures in 2027, with City sources suggesting these could be refinanced or fresh bonds issued to top up the bank lending.

There is widespread agreement that a 60/40 ratio of debt to equity is achieveable, leaving Ratcliffe to find around £800m from his own resources or new investors.

Having beaten off a rival bid from Qatari Sheikh Jassim to buy 25 per cent of United the Middle East is seen as the most fertile hunting ground for fresh investment. 

United may not have won the Premier League for 12 years, but the club still appear to be seen as a trophy investment in the marketplace.

Prince criticises 3pm blackout

There is a sense of inevitability that at some point in the next decade, the UK will get rid of the 3pm blackout.

A law that many see as outdated, this week it came under surprise criticism from the president of the Football Association (FA), one Prince William.

Sounding like Stan from Dudley, the heir to the throne stressed his frustration at the restrictions because his busy schedule prevents him from getting to Villa Park to watch his side with any regularity.

"The biggest thing at home is trying to find it on TV sometimes because obviously you've got the Saturday 3pm blackout which is irritating.

"But it's really annoying that we still can't watch our own team's Premier League match in this country but you can go abroad and watch any game any time."

It will be a delicate balance for football’s stakeholders, and likely a future task for the independent regulator, to work out how to unlock more inventory for broadcasters while preserving the rights value of those games and also protecting the EFL and non-league football.

2029 will be the next opportunity to lift the blackout, given the current broadcast rights cycle.

Milan tried to hijack Berta hire

AC Milan had three meetings with Andrea Berta to attempt to convince him to return to Italy rather than take Arsenal’s sporting director vacancy.

Influencer and content creator Fabrizio Romano reported that the Rossoneri were keen to bring Berta back home so that Geoffrey Moncada can return to more of a scouting-focused role.

Arsenal are yet to announce Berta’s arrival but it is understood that he will be taking over at the Emirates.

Industry insiders canvassed by FootBiz believe the 53-year-old to be a strong hire.

One anonymous exec believes his record in the market represents an upgrade on Edu, while an agent questions how much Berta controlled at Atleti given the power of coach Diego Simeone.

Charles Gould of Retexo, a data-led executive search and advisory firm, points out that one big test for Berta could eventually come when (or if) Mikel Arteta leaves the club as he did not hire a coach during his time at Atletico Madrid. There will also be a focus on how his player recruitment evolves in a new environment.

“His work in the market is also characterized by the acquisition of peaking players from the Spanish leagues, including Marcos Llorente, Mario Hermoso and, most notably, Rodri, a signing which made the club a ~€50M profit in just a year,” says Gould.

“Based on publicly available data, Berta has worked with a net spend of slightly above 100M on player trading since 2017, a significantly lower number than Arsenal has achieved during the same period but with more silverware.”

Lazio ban

Lazio have had their fans banned from their next away match in UEFA competitions, the Europa League quarter-final at Bodo/Glimt, after UEFA found evidence of racist and/or discriminatory chanting during the 2-1 win against Viktoria Plzen last Thursday.

It’s always the Nazis you least expect…

Man United and Spurs intertwined

Two Premier League clubs are careering towards what would be a financial fork in the road in the Europa League.

Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United both secured their places in the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday night and are the bookmakers’ favourites to win the competition.

While the other teams in the last eight are all on course to qualify for European competition next season, abysmal domestic campaigns from Spurs and United have left them both with a near-impossible task of accessing UEFA competitions via their league position.

Which sets up the enticing prospect of a winner-takes-all fixture in Bilbao at the end of the season, with one club heading to next year’s Champions League and bagging a likely £100m+ bounty while the other contemplates the financial and reputational hit of missing out on Europe altogether.

Such a fixture would also mean six Premier League teams qualifying for the Champions League for the first time ever.

Newcastle’s Carabao Cup win means that eighth place in the Premier League will likely go to the Conference League.

Manchester United's co-owners INEOS have terminated another sporting sponsorship deal after agreeing severance terms with Tottenham to cut short their commercial partnership.

Tottenham signed a five-year contract with Ineos Grenadier as their official 4×4 vehicle partner in 2022, having previously partnered with Ineos Hygienics as official hand sanitiser supplier during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the branding had been removed from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for last Thursday's Europa League last 16 victory over AZ Alkmaar. 

City AM revealed that the INEOS/Tottenham partnership was in doubt last month and the Daily Mail reported yesterday that Sir Jim Ratcliffe's company have paid a "not insignificant sum" to scrap the deal. FootBiz has been told that Tottenham have been paid up until the end of the season and are free to sign a replacement contract with another vehicle partner.

INEOS' split with Tottenham appears to have been more harmonious than their attempts to exit from a deal with New Zealand Rugby, who have taken legal action over a withdrawal from an agreement that was due to run until 2027.

INEOS' partnership with Sir Ben Ainslie's America's Cup team has also been terminated, while the Daily Telegraph reported last week that the chemical company's one-third stake in Mercedes Formula One is also under threat, with United becoming their sole focus.

Foster care

River Plate are taking legal action against American investor Foster Gillett over the failed transfer of midfielder Rodrigo Villagra.

We have covered the weird situation with Gillett at Estudiantes a couple of times here, but the son of former Liverpool co-owner George Gillett is bankrolling a transfer spree for the La Plata club despite not formally being able to invest given the country’s (disputed) rules on club ownership. 

Gillett infuriated Boca Juniors by depositing the release clause of midfielder Cristian Medina personally, rather than from Boca’s bank account, and they lodged a formal complaint.

The American also told River Plate he would activate Villagra’s clause, but never deposited the necessary money. While the to-and-fro played out, the player didn’t train, valuable transfer window time evaporated and when the deal fell through, River were left with an unhappy player and now no move.

Villagra ended up moving to CSKA Moscow for $5m plus 50% sell-on but River believe they should have got more for the player and are suing Gillett for causing financial damage to the club.

A similar story played out with Velez Sarsfield’s highly rated young defender Valentin Gomez, 21, for whom Gillett also failed to deposit a $10m release clause after indicating he would.

Gomez couldn’t train with Velez while the saga played out, prompting anger from all sides.

Barca refinancing stadium debt

Barcelona is already looking to refinance the €1.45bn debt it raised in 2023 to renovate the Camp Nou, hoping to use its improved financial situation to reduce debt costs. 

While the club is already missing out on anticipated revenue with the delays that have reportedly pushed back their move-in date to 2026, Barca’s overall finances are less disastrous than they were 18 months ago. 

Bloomberg reports that the club does not need to start making payments on the interest until next year, but will owe a payment of nearly €600m in 2028. 

Goldman Sachs has been contracted to assist with the refinancing. 

San Siro update

In the long-running saga of AC Milan and Inter attempting to build a new stadium, the two rivals last week presented a proposal to the city to buy the existing San Siro stadium and its surrounds. 

The two giants of Italian football have worked on a number of ideas that would see them end up in more modern stadia with the commercial upside they crave, including a neighbouring site. 

Any plans to demolish the existing San Siro were always likely to be met with opposition, given its iconic architectural status, but both clubs are determined to move on and are making the city decide between an injection of revenue into the municipal coffers or losing their tenants to a new location altogether. 

M&A Murmurs

John Textor is hoping he can finally manage to acquire a Portuguese team for his Eagle Football group. 

The American’s multi-club operation got its name because Textor had launched it with proposed investments in Crystal Palace and Benfica, both nicknamed the Eagles. 

However, his offer to buy 25% of Benfica in July 2021 was rejected by the club’s management. 

Subsequent legal issues at the club made Textor’s attempts to invest in the club impossible and he moved on, eventually acquiring Lyon from long-time owner Jean-Michel Aulas. 

Reports in Portugal suggest that Textor is now getting closer to acquiring upstart club Casa Pia, known as the Geese, who sit in sixth place and are battling for a European spot. 

Casa Pia were only promoted to the top flight in 2023 after an 83-year absence from Portugal’s elite but have played good football under a succession of exciting young coaches, including Manchester United’s new head coach Ruben Amorim. 

A Portuguese outpost could be strategically important given Eagle’s interests in Brazil, where Textor owns Botafogo, and would almost certainly trigger a conveyor belt of South American signings for Casa Pia if he can close the acquisition - though surely it won’t be done in time for Eagle’s much-vaunted Q1 IPO…

With the club’s historic home just 3km from Benfica’s modern Estadio da Luz, Textor didn’t have to look too far to find his Portuguese club. 

Geese Football, anyone?

Wolves reduce losses

Wolves announced reduced losses for the 2023/24 season of £14million last week, a significant improvement on the £67m they lost in the previous season. 

The club's healthier balance sheet was almost entirely due to increased player sales, with the departures of Matheus Nunes, Ruben Neves, Nathan Collins, Conor Coady and Raul Jimenez netting them a player trading profit of £65m, which is just as well as they record operating losses of £73m.

An analysis of Wolves' accounts and on-field performances indicates that the club are stagnating in the Premier League, with their buy-to-sell model stretched to the limit. The mid-season appointment of Victor Perreira will be enough to keep them up, although that is in significant part due to limited challenge offered by promoted clubs Southampton, Ipswich and Leicester, a situation that may change next season.

Wolves have made profits of £184m from player sales in the last four years, which has kept them competitive and narrowly enabled them to comply with PSR regulations, but given fixed broadcasting income and limited match-day and commercial growth they will have to continue trading. The accounts note that they have already banked £65m this season from last summer's sales of Pedro Neto and Max Kilman, and given the underlying numbers it would be a major surprise if Matheus Cunha is not sold this summer.

Paqueta to fight fixing charges in person

Lucas Paqueta's FA disciplinary hearing into allegations of spot-fixing began yesterday. The FA have allocated three weeks for the tribunal, which will be heard by a three-person independent panel, with Paqueta withdrawing from the Brazil squad for World Cup qualifiers against Colombia and Argentina so he can give evidence in person.

Paqueta was charged with four counts of spot-fixing in four separate Premier League games, and two of obstructing an FA investigation. The Guardian reported yesterday that the FA have recommended a life ban if he is found guilty. 

The FA allege that Paqueta “directly sought to influence (…) these matches by intentionally seeking to receive a card from the referee, for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market in order for one or more persons to profit from betting."

Paqueta denies any wrongdoing and his being defended by Nick De Marco KC, who achieved a notable victory last season successfully challenging the Premier League's right to charge Leicester for Financial Fair Play breaches, on the grounds that they had been relegated to the Championship by the time they field their 2022/23 accounts. He also represented former Brentford striker Ivan Toney when he was charged with 262 charges of FA betting rules, which led to him being given an eight-month ban from football.

Vard knock life

Jamie Vardy has revealed his investment in USL side the Rochester Rhinos was a gift. 

The former England striker was announced as a co-owner in the New York-based minor league team in 2021, getting ahead of the trend of top-level players investing in clubs. 

Kylian Mbappe and Andres Iniesta are among the players who have followed suit, but Vardy revealed that his Rhinos stake was handed to him for promotional purposes. 

The news emerged after his wife, Rebekah Vardy, had made a formal complaint to the British press standards watchdog about a Daily Mail article that suggested Jamie had made “a significant investment” into the club that had since “gone bust”. 

The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) partially ruled in the Mail’s favour, finding that the newspaper had taken enough care to avoid publishing inaccurate claims. 

IPSO declined to judge on the matter of the Rhinos “going bust” as the team itself had not made a complaint. The USL club no longer fields a senior team for financial reasons.