FootBiz newsletter #85: Hirings, firings and transfer news special plus the FIFA twist we should have seen coming

FootBiz on a Wednesday! What a treat. With everyone in the UK and the USA enjoying a (bank) holiday weekend, a massive Tuesday newsletter seemed a touch aggressive so we have shifted to Wednesday this week and may continue with that through the off-season as we look to focus on more content for our premium subscribers.

That includes events, and the plan remains for our first US-based event to take place on the eve of the Club World Cup final. Stay tuned for more information on that.

Next season will also see us broaden our offering to meet the demand for podcasts, though we will hold off saying much more now as we work out some details on production partners etc.

Exciting times. Also busy times, as you can see from the length of today’s contents, so let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

• Ronaldo headed to Club World Cup?

• Good news, bad news for (other) Ronaldo

• AC Milan fans tell owners to sell

• Ayto leaves Arsenal

• Man United clearout begins

• Villa face PSR rush

• M&A Murmurs

• Mitchell leaving Newcastle already

• Splintered rights don’t help women’s game

• Championship manager(s) update 

• Transfers that will happen

• Transfers that won’t happen

Ronaldo headed to Club World Cup?

We should have predicted this ourselves, given how obvious it now seems, but Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to play at the Club World Cup next month after declaring his “chapter over” at Al-Nassr.

Currently the best-paid footballer in the world, Ronaldo’s contract with Al-Nassr expires shortly and so he was free to move anyway but eyebrows were raised when Gianni Infantino revealed (before Ronaldo’s own announcement) that talks were taking place to ensure Ronaldo was at FIFA’s newly expanded tournament.

“Ronaldo might play for one of the teams as well at the Club World Cup,” Infantino said on the YouTube channel iShowSpeed.

“There are discussions with some clubs, so if any club is interested in hiring Ronaldo for the Club World Cup… who knows, who knows.”

Does anyone know if there are any aligned interests with FIFA and Saudi Arabia currently?

Of course, world football’s governing body has already shamelessly shoehorned Lionel Messi into their global club showcase, granting Inter Miami a place in the competition off the back of finishing top in the Major League Soccer regular season, having waited until Inter had done so before announcing that this achievement was suddenly worth a CWC place rather than, say, winning the actual championship. Inter crashed out in the first round of the MLS playoffs the following week.

Ronaldo would have plenty of options if money were not a consideration, but with the Portuguese superstar likely keen to retain his status as one of the world’s highest-paid athletes in any sport, it wouldn’t surprise us if he moved to Al-Hilal, who like Al-Nassr are owned by PIF but unlike Al-Nassr are playing in the Club World Cup.

The 40-year-old wouldn’t need to move house, either.

Good news, bad news for (other) Ronaldo

Ronaldo Nazario has finally sold Real Valladolid, albeit too late to achieve his dream of taking over at the Brazilian football federation (CBF).

The Spanish club announced the sale last week, though it still technically needs to be approved by a vote, and it signals the end of the Brazilian’s unhappy time in Castilla-León.

Samir Xaud has now officially been elected as the president of the CBF after a vote that wasn’t without its controversy after a host of top-flight clubs boycotted.

As Ronaldo found to his cost when trying to put together a campaign, it is impossible to become president of the CBF without support from the state federations. Samir Xaud was backed by 25 out of 27 state federations, which effectively blocked other candidacies.

The good news for O Fenomeno is that if he waits long enough, he will probably be able have another shot at the big chair in not too long.

Per Folha de São Paulo, since Ricardo Teixeira resigned in 2012 the CBF has averaged a new leader every 14 months.

AC Milan fans tell owners to sell

In an unprecedented protest of RedBird Capital’s ownership of the club, AC Milan fans spelled out the words ‘GO HOME’ after one of world football’s most famous clubs missed out on European football entirely.

Fans then walked out of the stadium on the 15-minute mark, continuing their protest outside with chants against the ownership.

Defender Matteo Gabbia, a product of the club’s academy, summed up fairly succinctly the disappointment of Milan’s campaign: “We are very sad that the season went like this, it was negative for everyone and honestly it is good that it’s over so we can start from scratch in a month’s time.”

Starting from scratch includes a new sporting director, with Igli Tare announced immediately after the season ended as their choice to oversee the rebuild of this squad.

The former Lazio striker took his first steps as an executive with the Rome club, eventually leaving in the summer of 2023.

He began work on Monday, spending four hours mapping out the club’s summer plans (and beyond) at a dinner with CEO Giorgio Furlani, long-time chief scout Geoffrey Moncada and director Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

One of the first tasks is to find a new head coach, with a lot of movement expected in the Serie A market. Massimiliano Allegri is being linked with Napoli, where firebrand Antonio Conte may not continue despite delivering a Scudetto.

Thiago Motta will doubtless find a chair somewhere, while Vincenzo Italiano is a candidate for the top jobs available and Milan, despite their poor season, is always going to be one of those. Bologna are attempting to sign Italiano to an extension and can offer him European football but Milan isn’t an easy club to turn down…

Ayto leaves Arsenal

Jason Ayto has left Arsenal after the arrival of Andrea Berta as the club’s new sporting director.

Ayto was second-in-command to Edu during his reign at the Emirates, and filled in for the Brazilian after he left to head up Evangelos Marinakis’ multi-club operation. Ayto was interviewed for the post, but the club hierarchy ended up opting for Berta.

Man United clearout begins

Manchester United’s summer of change has begun, with Ruben Amorim not even wasting for the season to finish before bombing out winger Alejandro Garnacho.

The Argentine winger was publicly critical of Amorim after defeat in the Europa League final, with Amorim then telling the squad that Garnacho would be sold before addressing him directly to say “you’d better pray that you can find a club to sign you” (exact quote per the Daily Mail).

United quickly briefed journalists in Bilbao that Amorim would be remaining with the club, despite offering to walk away with no compensation in the immediate aftermath of the final, and that there would be a £100m transfer budget to spend.

The Telegraph later clarified that this figure was net, and the expectation has been that United will sell plenty of first-team squad members as they seek to overhaul a squad that is overpaid and has underperformed - namely Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Antony, Tyrell Malacia, Rasmus Hojlund, Casemiro, Joshua Zirksee and possibly even Kobbie Mainoo, who is out of favour and would represent pure profit in PSR terms. Jonny Evans, Victor Lindelof and Christian Eriksen are already leaving the club as free transfers and should free up north of £200k per week in wages on their own.

While the club will miss out on north of £100m in revenue after losing the Europa League final, penny-pinching Sir Jim Ratcliffe can at least console himself that the players will earn less money after United missed out on European competition entirely, with the club planning on a much more streamlined squad and even popular players like captain Bruno Fernandes could reportedly leave after receiving a huge offer from Saudi Arabia. Fernandes, 30, has been offered the chance to quadruple his wages by Al-Hilal and must make a decision while on United’s painfully awkward post-season tour to Malaysia and Hong Kong.

“If the club thinks it’s time to part ways because they want to do some cashing in, it is what it is,” said Fernandes, though Amorim has stated he wants the midfielder to stay. Whether it’s his choice or not will become clearer in the coming days.

Matheus Cunha will be the first new arrival when United trigger his £62.5m clause, with the payment being divided into three instalments over two years. United had tried to spread them over five years but were rejected in no uncertain terms.

Bryan Mbeumo’s name has been widely linked by journalists who cover the club regularly, suggesting some substance, but the Brentford man seems a peculiar fit for United in both age and profile. Either way, assuming the interest is genuine — as well as the known pursuit of Liam Delap — it is abundantly clear that United are looking for Premier League experience rather than prioritising cheaper talent from abroad.

Villa face PSR rush

Aston Villa are preparing for a frantic month of player trading next month after Sunday’s surprise defeat to Manchester United, which was heavily influenced by premature intervention of referee Thomas Bramall, has left them with a financial shortfall of between £30m and £100m as a result of failing to qualify for the Champions League.

Head coach Unai Emery was already resigned to at least one significant departure ahead of the 2024/25 PSR accounting deadline of 30 June, and several sales may now be required given clubs in the Europa League receive only 20 per cent of the distribution payments from UEFA as those in the more prestigious competition.

Villa have posted losses of over £200m in the last two years, and needed to sell Douglas Luiz, Tim Iroegbunam and Omari Kellyman last June to avoid a PSR breach. While the club banked £64.4m from the sale of Jhon Duran to Al-Nassr in January more sales will be required next month, with Emiliano Martinez, Ollie Watkins, Leon Bailey and Jacob Ramsey all likely to attract offers.

Intriguingly the Daily Mail reported earlier this month that Martinez has had talks with super-agent Jorges Mendes about representing him, a move which is usually the precursor to a major transfer. The Argentinian World Cup winner signed a new five-year contract earlier this season, but Villa may chose to cash in and sign a younger and cheaper alternative, such as Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia.

Another possible strategy for Villa to circumvent their PSR problems is to sell their women’s team, which has been rumoured for some time. Bloomberg reported in April that Villa are looking for investors to purchase between 10 and 20 per cent of the club at a total enterprise value of £60m.

Villa’s anger with Bramall, meanwhile, appears to have subsided after the referee incorrectly ruled that Morgan Rogers had kicked the ball out of United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir’s hands at Old Trafford and blew his whistle early, thus preventing the incident being checked by VAR. While Villa made a formal complaint to the Premier League on Monday the club were seeking clarification over PGMOL’s appointment process, rather than threatening legal action.

A former referee spoken to by FootBiz pointed to the different technology used in the Championship as an issue in having refs that float between the two divisions.

“There is no VAR in the Championship during the season, so officials are accustomed to the old-fashioned norms of being decisive.

“Refereeing in the Premier League now is a unique experience, where against a referee’s instincts they are supposed to allow play to continue not just for offsides but a number of other key decisions.

“I place less blame at Bramall’s door than the system itself.”

M&A Murmurs

Saudi boxing powerbroker Turki Alalshikh has held talks with Millwall about buying a stake in the Championship club, according to the Daily Mail.

Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia's general entertainment authority, has spearheaded the nation's huge investment in boxing over the last two years and last week sold Spanish club Almeria to the Saudi investment group SMC.

Alalshikh is understood to have approached several EFL clubs about investing, but Millwall denied entering formal negotiations and insist they are not for sale. The club are owned by American holding company Millwall Holdings Limited and have been chaired by James Berylson since his father and predecessor, John Berylson, died in a motor vehicle accident in 2023. Berylson senior was the first American to buy an EFL club when he took control at Millwall in 2007.

TalkSport also reported Alalshikh as being interested in Southampton, though the Saints were not understood to be on the market. Sky Sports reported last week that a Premier League club had approached the boxing executive to gauge his interest.

Aliya Capital have joined Reading’s ownership group, with Aliya CEO Ross Kestin taking up a place on the board.

Rob Couhig and Todd Trosclair completed their protracted takeover of the troubled Royals this month and have already set about slashing budgets as they seek to reverse the club’s gargantuan losses over recent seasons.

Aliya have previously looked at a raft of other English clubs, with the Miami-based fund telling those teams that they would look to use their connections in Brazil to bring talent to Europe. With League One clubs only able to bring in two ESC players, they will need Reading to be promoted to execute their vision more fully.

While there is no doubt at Rangers that Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises will be completing their takeover of the club, there is some question over why there has been such a delay in finalising the acquisition.

The Gers’ season ended fairly early in real terms, with Celtic pulling away atop the league and a handful of cup exits triggering the departure of manager Philippe Clement.

49ers figures and new sporting director Kevin Thelwell have been heavily involved in the recruitment of Clement’s long-term replacement (interim boss Barry Ferguson has already left the club) and interviewed Davide Ancelotti and Steven Gerrard among other candidates. Gretar Steinsson, who was previously at Leeds United but has been promoted to be technical director at group level for the 49ers, was also a key figure in interviews.

Figures close to the bid have suggested there is no rush to complete, and would not be surprised if an announcement was not made on the takeover until mid-June. A new manager is likely to be in place by then, however, as the club seeks to get to work on turning over the squad.

Results elsewhere in Europe have conspired against Rangers in terms of qualifying for next year’s Champions League, which would represent a huge financial boost for the club. Union Saint-Gilloise winning the Belgian Pro League means Rangers are now unseeded in the playoff round for UEFA’s top-tier competition — should they get that far — and would be tasked with getting past Benfica or Club Brugge.

Their opponents in the second qualifying round will be Panathinaikos, Servette or Brann and progress would pit them against Nice, RB Salzburg, Fenerbahce or Viktoria Plzen, leaving no guarantees of even making it that far.

Mitchell leaving Newcastle already

Newcastle sporting director Paul Mitchell is leaving the club after less than 12 months this summer, it was announced yesterday. The former Southampton, Tottenham, RB Leipzig and Monaco recruitment executive clashed with Eddie Howe immediately after he was appointed last summer, and will leave St James’ Park without making a single first-team signing.

Mitchell angered Howe by criticising Newcastle’s existing recruitment and data departments in a bizarre media briefing last July, which went down very badly with the manager, not least as his nephew Andy is the club’s head of scouting. The 43-year-old also irritated several senior players by adopting a confrontational approach towards them in early meetings.

While Mitchell and Howe agreed a truce last summer their relationship never fully recovered, with the latter likely to see his influence increase further following a season in which he has delivered Newcastle’s first domestic trophy for 56 years with the Carabao Cup, as well as a return to the Champions League.

Mitchell was always a close ally of Newcastle CEO Darren Eales, who he worked with at Tottenham, and with Eales leaving his post this summer due to ill health it is perhaps less surprising that Mitchell and Newcastle chose this moment to part ways.

Splintered rights don’t help women’s game

Arsenal fans turned out in impressive numbers to celebrate their shock Champions League final victory over Barcelona with a presentation and open-topped bus parade at the Emirates Stadium on Monday, but whether their historic achievement got the wider cut-through it deserved is far less clear.

Global broadcast rights holders DAZN made the women’s final in Lisbon available free-to-air via their app and YouTube but, as reported by City AM last week, UK rightsholder TNT Sports were prevented from offering their coverage to non-subscribers. While DAZN do not disclose viewing figures, describing the first English Champions League triumph since Arsenal won the same competition in 2007 as a massive boost for women’s football in the UK seems optimistic given the lack of eyeballs.

The women’s Champions League will have another broadcaster next season after four years on DAZN, with Disney+ agreeing a five-year deal for global rights, as first reported last week by The Guardian’s Tom Garry. All 75 matches in the competition, from the new-look 18-club league phase that will follow the men’s format for the first time, will be streamed on Disney+, in a move that will again present challenges in terms of audience reach.

The Disney+ deal continues a recent trend of diversification in the broadcasting market that appears particularly pronounced in the women’s game, with six different companies boasting TV rights in the UK from next season. The BBC and Sky share the rights to show the Women’s Super League, while TNT Sports and Channel 4 have secured a new deal to broadcast the Women’s FA Cup. ITV and the BBC have England matches, while every WSL 2 match will be available live on YouTube.

Significantly the Disney+ deal is the first TV contract negotiated by UC3, the new joint venture between UEFA and the European Club Association to sell commercial and broadcast rights. UC3 have appointed New York-based agency Relevent Sports as their sales partner, and the fact that their first deal is with Disney is likely to be indicative of an increasingly transatlantic direction of travel.

Championship manager(s) update 

Southampton have appointed Will Still as their new manager with his predecessor but one, Russell Martin, close to agreeing to join fellow relegated side Leicester.

At the age of 32, Still is an intriguing appointment by Southampton, although the managerial prodigy already has an eight-year career behind him in Belgium as well as Reims and Lens in France.

Martin’s managerial journey has been more orthodox, beginning at the final club of his well-travelled playing career Milton Keynes Dons, before moving on to Swansea and Southampton.

After winning promotion via the Championship play-offs last year however, Martin managed just one win in 16 Premier League games this season before being sacked in December, though his successor Ivan Juric fared little better.

Norwich City have not rushed their managerial search after surprisingly firing Johannes Hoff Thorup over a month ago, but they appear to have decided on a candidate.

The Canaries this week approached Bristol City with a view to hiring Liam Manning.

Manning had experience within the City Football Group before a tough spell at Milton Keynes Dons. Manning then took over at Oxford United, where he laid the foundations for their first promotion to the second tier in decades before being poached by Bristol City.

While Norwich may not seem a huge step up from the Robins, with the Canaries no longer receiving parachute payments and Bristol City having got to the playoffs this season, Manning is Norwich-born and there was uncertainty over how much investment there would be in the Bristol club’s squad.

Bristol City make an operating loss of around £20m before player sales and Manning was reportedly getting very little to strengthen a squad that overachieved in finishing fifth in the Championship.

Danny Rohl’s future remains uncertain after Southampton opted against hiring the Sheffield Wednesday coach.

Rohl has been unhappy at Hillsborough for a while, and while bridges haven’t been burnt there was always a feeling that he’d leave the club this summer.

That said, after RB Leipzig and Southampton both decided to look elsewhere after talks there are increasingly few options for Rohl, who has done a good job with limited resources in Sheffield. Werder Bremen have been credited with an interest, and while Rohl has been open to a move back to Germany the former Bundesliga champions are currently in the second tier and may struggle to offer significantly improved terms on his current deal.

Perhaps getting away from Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri would be enough.

Transfers that will happen

Kevin De Bruyne has turned down a move to Major League Soccer and will instead join Serie A champions Napoli.

The Belgian playmaker had hoped to remain with Manchester City but the club didn’t offer him an extension as they look to revamp their squad.

De Bruyne’s move to the south of Italy now means that he could face City in next season’s Champions League.

AC Milan midfielder Tijani Reijnders will be part of City’s new-look team next year after agreeing personal terms and with Milan preparing to sell a number of first-team players.

Sold by Manchester City last summer, Liam Delap will be on the move in the next month and is expected to make a decision on his future soon after talks with multiple clubs.

Ipswich Town’s relegation has made a £30m release clause active in Delap’s contract, and while the 22-year-old’s statistical profile is unspectacular there is at least enough potential there for richer teams to take a gamble on. Everyone in the market is looking for a striker, and Delap’s clause makes him eminently affordable for Premier League clubs with Chelsea and Manchester United leading the race.

Real Madrid will sign Alvaro Carreras from Benfica when they trigger his €50m release clause before the Club World Cup. The left-back fills an obvious hole in the Madrid squad as Xabi Alonso looks to topple Barcelona after back-to-back La Liga titles for the Nou Camp club.

Man United will benefit from a sell-on clause in the deal which took the Spaniard to Benfica, after loans to Preston North End and Granada had failed to convince the Old Trafford hierarchy of his talent. United could also have exercised a buyback option in his deal last January but instead opted to buy Patrick Dorgu from Lecce to fill the same role, deeming him more athletic.

Jonathan Tah will join Bayern on a free after his Bayer Leverkusen contract expired. Barcelona’s interest was never supported by something more important: cold, hard cash.

Transfers that won’t happen

Lamine Yamal is not going anywhere. Barcelona have wisely tied up the best player on Earth to a six-year contract, and the competence of the club’s management over that term will dictate whether they keep him even longer or whether he jumps ship amid all the lever-pulling. A renovated Camp Nou will undoubtedly help.

Bayern aren’t expected to make an offer for Eberechi Eze, despite reports linking them with a move for Crystal Palace’s FA Cup hero. Eze enjoys a fine chemistry with Bayern star Michael Olise but the Bundesliga champions would prefer a younger if they are to unload around €75m.

Everton won’t pursue a permanent deal for Jack Harrison. The winger was one of Everton’s most important players over the past two years since joining on loan from Leeds, clocking up nearly 2,500 Premier League minutes this season. Of Everton’s 10 most-used players in 2024/25, six are leaving or have already left the club while questions remain over whether they can hold on to Jarrad Branthwaite as the squad undergoes major surgery.