Football's Magic Money Tree

[Chester Perry]

Tony Bloom must have one - Brighton's spending for promotion must have come very close to breaking ffp

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42460866" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Chester Perry]

This article provokes a number of serious questions - the last being

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... tiful-game" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

will Newcastle suddenly be as wealthy as city and PSG

[Royboyclaret]

£264 million the Wage bill at Man City eh.......pretty much exactly five times that at Turf Moor.

A far cry from when Stuart Pearce was manager at Maine Road and they had to sell the club shop for £400k in order to pay the next round of wages.

As for Newcastle, we'll watch the developments carefully, but I don't envisage them coming even close to City's wealth.

[Spijed]

£264 million the Wage bill at Man City eh.......pretty much exactly five times that at Turf Moor.

A far cry from when Stuart Pearce was manager at Maine Road and they had to sell the club shop for £400k in order to pay the next round of wages.

As for Newcastle, we'll watch the developments carefully, but I don't envisage them coming even close to City's wealth.

Apparently Wolves might do next season.

[randomclaret2]

Its about time somebody dared to question the source of City's new found wealth.

[Royboyclaret]

Not wise to question Sheikh Khalifa too closely, randomclaret !

[UpTheBeehole]

A far cry from when Stuart Pearce was manager at Maine Road and they had to sell the club shop for £400k in order to pay the next round of wages.

Man City left Maine Road and it was demolished in Autumn 2003.

Stuart Pearce's first managerial spell, as caretaker, was in March 2005.

[Royboyclaret]

Well since it was Pearce himself who recounted the story, I think his version of events will be pretty accurate.

[Spijed]

Not wise to question Sheikh Khalifa too closely, randomclaret !

Is it him or Sheikh Mansour who's put the money into Man City?

Most confusing.

[Royboyclaret]

Sheikh Mansour is the City owner but the wealth originally came from his half-brother Sheikh Khalifa.

[Chester Perry]

Chelsea are starting to bare fruit on the theirs but if it wasn't for their owners personal one they would be nowhere - still miles behind united and city though - no wonder they are looking at getting the Chinese involved to fund that stadium rebuild we I think will come in at over a £billion in the end

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42517351" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Chester Perry]

Can it really be true - will Amazon rise above mere interest and throw their hat into the ring - only time will tell but at least them showing this level of interest will have owners and agents rubbing their hands with anticipatory glee

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/201 ... tv-rights/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Chester Perry]

This will make interesting reading - if a little out of date - a slightly more rounded view of the 100 most wealthy clubs in the world - balances Assets (ground, players etc.) against debts, owners deep pockets and so on - we are at 73 - 16th in the UK.

http://mysoccerex.com/Soccerex_Football ... 0_2018.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

thanks to the Burnley Express for the link - their article

https://www.burnleyexpress.net/sport/fo ... -1-8945035" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[aggi]

I think that whilst the restriction on broadcasting matches in the UK at 3 o'clock exists the big players like Amazon and Disney (other than through Sky) won't get involved with the UK rights.

Their ambition will likely be live streaming packages and this isn't going to happen if you can't stream 50% of the games because they're on at Saturday at 3 o'clock.

[Chester Perry]

This list is just out of estimated player values - nothing from us in the top 100 - but Harry Maguire sneaks in at just over £50m - that spurs squad has a high value pro rata to it's wage bill - how long can they hold out with that new ground to pay for - though evidently a new ground does wonders for your worth (see Arsenal in post #63)

http://www.football-observatory.com/IMG ... 17/209/en/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Royboyclaret]

Unfortunately the figures in the link in post#63 relate to the 2015/16 season or the last time we were in the Championship. Any conclusions, therefore, regarding our current financial standing in relation to other top clubs would be wholly inaccurate.

We would currently be within the top 25 of all European clubs in terms of Revenue and Net Profit.

[Chester Perry]

Roy believe you to be right on both counts

I think most of the conclusions about relative long term wealth can be drawn from - Fixed Asset value, Cash in the Bank and net debt - squad value while useful in the short term can rapidly fluctuate without doing too much to affect/protect the others see various staging posts on the A666 for examples

We also see Owners potential to Invest is a hugely distorting figure in this case


N.B. Was surprised that our Net Debt was given as £20m

[tiger76]

Roy believe you to be right on both counts

I think most of the conclusions about relative long term wealth can be drawn from - Fixed Asset value, Cash in the Bank and net debt - squad value while useful in the short term can rapidly fluctuate without doing too much to affect/protect the others see various staging posts on the A666 for examples

We also see Owners potential to Invest is a hugely distorting figure in this case


N.B. Was surprised that our Net Debt was given as £20m

Won't most of that debt be outstanding transfer fees.

[Chester Perry]

that was my only thought tiger

[Chester Perry]

Daniel Levy has taken a long term punt on Spurs hosting an English NFL franchise - is this a big risk for the normally prudent Chief Exec

https://www.tifofootball.com/features/f ... nfl-games/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

that estimated £400m cost overrun on the new Stadium is most unlike him - though he could get most if not all of it back with the sale of Kane and Ali

Personally think the NFL focus is more about selling the naming rights (much wider audience for the rights holder to grab the attention of)

[Chester Perry]

We are seeing the power that a club can have on local government - Chelsea's persuading of a council to use a loop hole to ignore a High Court Injunction so that only an expensive Judicial Review can block it is similar to the way the big supermarkets (especially Tesco) have operated in places like Padiham. The Big Money nearly always wins

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/201 ... -overturn/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Chester Perry]

The attendances of English football compared to the rest of Europe are mentioned elsewhere - but we are also top for most expensive tickets and highest wages as a league in UEFA's benchmark report - BBC have a few comparison charts

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42715295" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

what is truly shocking is that Premier League Wages as a whole are greater than the rest of Europeans football combined (through the professional structure) if you don't include the top tiers in France, Germany, Italy and Spain - that's well over 400 leagues.

The full report

https://uefa.app.box.com/v/benchmarking" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Chester Perry]

One element of the report I hadn't yet picked up on - and it makes me dizzy to think about it - Agents have taken £2.5 billion out of the European game in the last 5 years

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... -UEFA.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Royboyclaret]

Whilst on the surface it does appear that PL wages in the UK are startling it must be remembered that it's here that TV revenue is by far the highest. In fact although wage growth has increased to 8.6% it still remains below the UK club revenue growth of 9.5%.

If we seem out on a limb now just consider the potential situation from the '19/'20 season when the revised TV deal is implemented. All forecasts are that an increase in excess of 55% can again be expected. It's at that point (if Burnley are still a part of the PL) that we must reconsider our current Wages to Turnover percentage of less than 35%.

[Chester Perry]

Seems like Chelsea might be in trouble about recruitment for their talent farm

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... -25-minors" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

fines and blocks in recruitment are not likely to help their bottom line when they are scrambling around for money for the new stadium

[cricketfieldclarets]

Whilst on the surface it does appear that PL wages in the UK are startling it must be remembered that it's here that TV revenue is by far the highest. In fact although wage growth has increased to 8.6% it still remains below the UK club revenue growth of 9.5%.

If we seem out on a limb now just consider the potential situation from the '19/'20 season when the revised TV deal is implemented. All forecasts are that an increase in excess of 55% can again be expected. It's at that point (if Burnley are still a part of the PL) that we must reconsider our current Wages to Turnover percentage of less than 35%.

How important would you say survival next year is on that basis? In terms of short and long term future and also beyond the club, for the town itself?

[Chester Perry]

Listen to this and try not to wretch - the world is going crazy and clubs like ours are trying to make sense of the impact it generates

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05vcf7b" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

that Sanchez salary would keep most Championship clubs going for a year very comfortably

[Royboyclaret]

"........How important would you say survival next year is on that basis? In terms of short and long term future and also beyond the club, for the town itself?............"


Absolutely crucial, is the only way to answer that one. To avoid repetition post #46 on this thread kind of sums things up.

As regards the Sanchez salary just re-read your opening post to realise that with the revenue they generate, paying the odd player or two half a million pounds per week is well within their capabilities.

[Chester Perry]

Roy fully understand that Utd can afford Sanchez - they never do anything they cannot afford from cash flow - even Arsene Wenger has no gripes with them about that and said so publicly this week. It is the imbalance it causes and the potentially destabilisation of fans/player/agent expectations and the boards grasp of reality and strength to maintain a grip on it. So far we have done well but the path of self destruction is well trod in this country.

Also concurr re your answer to cfc

[aggi]

Some interesting analysis here how the points gap between the top 6 and the other teams is widening https://gwilymlockwood.com/2018/01/10/t ... -the-rest/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Spijed]

"........How important would you say survival next year is on that basis? In terms of short and long term future and also beyond the club, for the town itself?............"


Absolutely crucial, is the only way to answer that one. To avoid repetition post #46 on this thread kind of sums things up.

As regards the Sanchez salary just re-read your opening post to realise that with the revenue they generate, paying the odd player or two half a million pounds per week is well within their capabilities.

Shirt sales alone will help to cover his wage.

[Spijed]

Some interesting analysis here how the points gap between the top 6 and the other teams is widening https://gwilymlockwood.com/2018/01/10/t ... -the-rest/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Wolves could be an interesting one next season as it could well become a top 7. They have money to burn.

[Chester Perry]

Shirt sales alone will help to cover his wage.

That is a myth that Real perpetrated to cover the Beckham, Ronaldo, Bale deals - Shirt sales do not make up for it as bonus payments on Utd's £75m a year Kit deal are paid on an overall volume of sales - and it is unlikely that Sanchez will significantly increase the overall Sales of Kit - though he may become a preferred name on said kit

[tiger76]

"........How important would you say survival next year is on that basis? In terms of short and long term future and also beyond the club, for the town itself?............"


Absolutely crucial, is the only way to answer that one. To avoid repetition post #46 on this thread kind of sums things up.

As regards the Sanchez salary just re-read your opening post to realise that with the revenue they generate, paying the odd player or two half a million pounds per week is well within their capabilities.

Sure they can afford it,wonder how the long-term players will tolerate him being the highest wage-earner.Potential for disharmony i would think.

[Chester Perry]

Interesting titbit here about how the Premier League guarantees a the minimum price on the domestic TV rights, also interesting that they consider bringing stuff in house and selling direct to us the viewer

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/articl ... cheap.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

finally this includes a snippet that the chief exec of eurosport is leaving to join -- Facebook - more rubbing of hands from agents players and Chairmen

[cricketfieldclarets]

"........How important would you say survival next year is on that basis? In terms of short and long term future and also beyond the club, for the town itself?............"


Absolutely crucial, is the only way to answer that one. To avoid repetition post #46 on this thread kind of sums things up.

As regards the Sanchez salary just re-read your opening post to realise that with the revenue they generate, paying the odd player or two half a million pounds per week is well within their capabilities.

Thanks. Critical then. If anything we need a legacy of our time on the gravy train. Its realistic to expect it will end at some stage amd or we will go down.

As long as have something to show for it its been a success. No debt, gawthorpe, improved disabled facilities, the pitch, the hub, the club shop all great legacies in their own right.

[Chester Perry]

The Deloitte report is out
- Man Utd just about top the tree (imagine how far ahead the English clubs would be without the devaluation of Sterling since the brexit vote)
- we don't make the top 30 But Bournemouth do with £137m revenue - wow (I don't believe we could match that even though we haven't published our results yet I believe)

here are a few different spins on it

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42767374" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/201 ... b-just-17/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... ter-united" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... -list.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Royboyclaret]

The timing of the Deloitte report each year baffles me. How can realistic comparisons be made when for instance half the Premier League clubs have still to show their hand ?

Far better to wait until the end of March when Burnley, along with the other remaining PL clubs, reveal their results for the '16/'17 season. By that time we should figure in the top 30 with earnings of over £125m.

In terms of this report recognising the 'richest' clubs in the world, there's also a flaw in the logic of that. Man United might have the largest Revenue but they also have the highest overall expenses. Surely a better measure is Net Profit as to how financially successful a club is and I remain convinced that when all clubs' results are available in 9 weeks time that Burnley (with a Profit similar to two years ago of £30.4m) will feature in the top 20 of most profitable European clubs. Even possible we could make the top 10 this time which will be a fantastic achievement for a club the size of ours.

[Chester Perry]

Roy - Yes, yes, yes and yes (4 points made I believe)

[Chester Perry]

Interesting Interview in the Telegraph with Uefa's President - 'We must stop world's richest clubs buying all the best players' (takes a pop at FIFA, the national governing bodies and the EU - how to make friends and influence people the Trump way - though he does seem more rational)

behind a paywall but you can read an article a week if you sign up
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/201 ... t-players/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The president of Uefa has revealed talks will begin on plans to curb financial excesses in football, which could lead to a form of salary cap being introduced across the European game and strict limits placed on agents’ fees.

In his first UK newspaper interview since being elected, the second-most powerful man in football, Aleksander Ceferin, said that a ­series of meetings with key stakeholders would seek to introduce rules to stop the world’s richest clubs signing all the best players.

With Alexis Sánchez having ­become the highest-paid footballer ever in England on more than £600,000 a week at Manchester United, Ceferin confirmed the new measures to be discussed include a “luxury tax”, with which clubs would be fined for exceeding a specified wage bill.

Also on the agenda will be curbs on the number of players a team could own or sign on loan, a move that would prevent the likes of Chelsea hoarding young talent.

In a wide-ranging interview in his office at Uefa’s headquarters on the banks of Lake Geneva, Ceferin said that restoring the “competitive balance” of European club football was the No 1 priority of his presidency, with the gulf between the game’s haves and have-nots having grown bigger than ever after Paris St-Germain’s world-record-shattering signings of Neymar and Kylian Mbappé last summer and ­another mega-money transfer ­window for the Premier League’s biggest teams.

Ceferin revealed talks with leagues and clubs would begin on Tuesday about the luxury tax he first floated almost a year ago, something that would see teams ­exceeding a certain threshold fined on a sliding scale, with the money raised distributed either among their ­rivals or to “social ­responsibility programmes”.

Europe’s political leaders blocked Michel Platini, Ceferin’s predecessor, from introducing a more traditional salary cap almost a decade ago, but the Slovenian was confident a luxury tax could be implemented without their approval.

Ceferin said: “I’m fed up of ­politicians saying, ‘Do something for competitive balance’, and then, when you speak to Brussels, they say, ‘Ah, but everything is forbidden by the EU law’.

“We have some sporting measures that we can establish without politicians. We can do luxury tax, we can limit the loans, we can limit the number of registered players.”

All those measures are set to be discussed on Tuesday at the annual meeting of Uefa’s Professional Strategy Council, the members of which include Richard Scudamore, the ­Premier League executive chairman, and other key stakeholders.

Ceferin said whatever new rules were introduced for the Champions League and Europa League needed to be replicated in domestic competitions, adding: “It’s easy to point the finger to Uefa, Uefa, Uefa.”

Revealing Uefa forecasts that, at the current rate, the world’s five richest clubs would turn more than €1 billion (£877 million) each after 2020, he said: “You will be surprised that even the biggest clubs want us to do something.”

Ceferin also revealed European football’s ­governing body was on the brink of submitting proposals to Fifa for agents’ fees to be capped and for the reintroduction of a licensing system for intermediaries, joking it had become possible for even a “killer” to represent players and clubs.

At a time when Sánchez’s decision to snub Manchester City for United has compounded concerns about the amount of money agents earn from the game, Ceferin revealed Uefa was actively lobbying Fifa to intervene.

Declaring the world governing body was “absolutely wrong” to have deregulated the industry three years ago, he said: “We should have a cap, how much a club can pay [an agent]. If the player is ­stupid enough to pay by himself then we can’t stop that.”

Ceferin said clubs claiming to be “hostages” had told him of agents: “They come and they say, ‘Look, you will pay me 50 per cent of the transfer or the player goes somewhere else’. Or, ‘You will buy him but you will buy also him and him and him, who you don’t want but you will pay the commission and you will take them’.” He added of the lack of a licensing system: “This situation now is the worst. Because, you can be – if I exaggerate – a killer and still be an agent.”

Regarding the future of the Champions League, Ceferin said Uefa was exploring ways of making what he dubbed a “fantastic ­product” even “more interesting” but warned: “As long as I’m here, no ­Super League will happen.”

Asked whether PSG’s loan-to-buy £16 7m deal for Mbappé risked making a mockery of Uefa’s Financial Fair Play rules, Ceferin declined to comment because the matter was the subject of an independent investigation, but added: “As a lawyer, I can tell you that if you buy a player or if you take him on loan with a condition to buy, it’s buying. It’s all the same.”

[dsr]

It's been a long time since I heard a UEFA President talking sense!

I think he's been looking at US baseball. They have no salary cap but they do have this luxury tax where teams that pay the players over a certain amount have to pay a fee to the league. They also have an active roster of 25 players, plus players on injured reserve; they have a 40-man protected roster where other players under the club control can't be poached.

Where it's different from football is that they have minor league affiliate teams playing in other leagues not part of any major league pyramid. They can farm their players out to these minor leagues to get experience before calling them up to the first 25. That's an approximate equivalent to loan players, but major league teams have a lot more than 40 of them - young players can get trapped in the system. And major league baseball has a draft, so the professional clubs don't have under-18 systems - they are selected by their teams out of high school or college.

As for agents, it ought to be illegal for the clubs to pay the player's agent anything at all. The point of being an agent is that you should act in the utmost good faith for the benefit of your client. If the agent agrees that his player should sign for the club that pays the agent the most, then he's defrauding his client.

[Chester Perry]

The Guardian with a reflective breakdown on the Uefa report (post #22 on this page)

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... all-trends" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

all stuff I noticed but a reasonable summary

[Chester Perry]

Sounds like Amazon are not going to bid this time (not enough big data for them to analyse) and I suspect Facebook won't either - that worry about the GB internet structure is an interesting one - how many concurrent live streams do they think the country has now

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... dding.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Vegas Claret]

Interesting Interview in the Telegraph with Uefa's President - 'We must stop world's richest clubs buying all the best players' (takes a pop at FIFA, the national governing bodies and the EU - how to make friends and influence people the Trump way - though he does seem more rational)

behind a paywall but you can read an article a week if you sign up
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/201 ... t-players/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The president of Uefa has revealed talks will begin on plans to curb financial excesses in football, which could lead to a form of salary cap being introduced across the European game and strict limits placed on agents’ fees.

In his first UK newspaper interview since being elected, the second-most powerful man in football, Aleksander Ceferin, said that a ­series of meetings with key stakeholders would seek to introduce rules to stop the world’s richest clubs signing all the best players.

With Alexis Sánchez having ­become the highest-paid footballer ever in England on more than £600,000 a week at Manchester United, Ceferin confirmed the new measures to be discussed include a “luxury tax”, with which clubs would be fined for exceeding a specified wage bill.

Also on the agenda will be curbs on the number of players a team could own or sign on loan, a move that would prevent the likes of Chelsea hoarding young talent.

In a wide-ranging interview in his office at Uefa’s headquarters on the banks of Lake Geneva, Ceferin said that restoring the “competitive balance” of European club football was the No 1 priority of his presidency, with the gulf between the game’s haves and have-nots having grown bigger than ever after Paris St-Germain’s world-record-shattering signings of Neymar and Kylian Mbappé last summer and ­another mega-money transfer ­window for the Premier League’s biggest teams.

Ceferin revealed talks with leagues and clubs would begin on Tuesday about the luxury tax he first floated almost a year ago, something that would see teams ­exceeding a certain threshold fined on a sliding scale, with the money raised distributed either among their ­rivals or to “social ­responsibility programmes”.

Europe’s political leaders blocked Michel Platini, Ceferin’s predecessor, from introducing a more traditional salary cap almost a decade ago, but the Slovenian was confident a luxury tax could be implemented without their approval.

Ceferin said: “I’m fed up of ­politicians saying, ‘Do something for competitive balance’, and then, when you speak to Brussels, they say, ‘Ah, but everything is forbidden by the EU law’.

“We have some sporting measures that we can establish without politicians. We can do luxury tax, we can limit the loans, we can limit the number of registered players.”

All those measures are set to be discussed on Tuesday at the annual meeting of Uefa’s Professional Strategy Council, the members of which include Richard Scudamore, the ­Premier League executive chairman, and other key stakeholders.

Ceferin said whatever new rules were introduced for the Champions League and Europa League needed to be replicated in domestic competitions, adding: “It’s easy to point the finger to Uefa, Uefa, Uefa.”

Revealing Uefa forecasts that, at the current rate, the world’s five richest clubs would turn more than €1 billion (£877 million) each after 2020, he said: “You will be surprised that even the biggest clubs want us to do something.”

Ceferin also revealed European football’s ­governing body was on the brink of submitting proposals to Fifa for agents’ fees to be capped and for the reintroduction of a licensing system for intermediaries, joking it had become possible for even a “killer” to represent players and clubs.

At a time when Sánchez’s decision to snub Manchester City for United has compounded concerns about the amount of money agents earn from the game, Ceferin revealed Uefa was actively lobbying Fifa to intervene.

Declaring the world governing body was “absolutely wrong” to have deregulated the industry three years ago, he said: “We should have a cap, how much a club can pay [an agent]. If the player is ­stupid enough to pay by himself then we can’t stop that.”

Ceferin said clubs claiming to be “hostages” had told him of agents: “They come and they say, ‘Look, you will pay me 50 per cent of the transfer or the player goes somewhere else’. Or, ‘You will buy him but you will buy also him and him and him, who you don’t want but you will pay the commission and you will take them’.” He added of the lack of a licensing system: “This situation now is the worst. Because, you can be – if I exaggerate – a killer and still be an agent.”

Regarding the future of the Champions League, Ceferin said Uefa was exploring ways of making what he dubbed a “fantastic ­product” even “more interesting” but warned: “As long as I’m here, no ­Super League will happen.”

Asked whether PSG’s loan-to-buy £16 7m deal for Mbappé risked making a mockery of Uefa’s Financial Fair Play rules, Ceferin declined to comment because the matter was the subject of an independent investigation, but added: “As a lawyer, I can tell you that if you buy a player or if you take him on loan with a condition to buy, it’s buying. It’s all the same.”

Whilst we know he's on a boat load of cash per week there is zero chance Sanchez in on 600K a week

[Chester Perry]

While we don't play in Europe and would be unlikely to face such price escalations if we did - the practices in some countries are truly shocking and greedy - if the UEAF president is serious about bringing such things under control then they need to send a message out with this Anderlecht charge

https://www.theguardian.com/football/bl ... ket-prices" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[UpTheBeehole]

Well since it was Pearce himself who recounted the story, I think his version of events will be pretty accurate.

They clearly aren't, as proven by my timeline of events

[Darthlaw]

Sure they can afford it,wonder how the long-term players will tolerate him being the highest wage-earner.Potential for disharmony i would think.

Arguably that has already been addressed with their contract for Zlatan this season who is in the top two earners at the club despite being guaranteed to be injured for half the season.

If you're one of the middle earners and were told your highest earning teammate was one of the best players in the league over the last few seasons or alternatively a guy who has been injured for 6 months, which would upset you the most?

Either way, the salary to Sanchez and most footballers seems to be daft these days but because of the sales of the PL to foreign markets, I can't see the bubble bursting anytime soon.

[Sidney1st]

Wolves could be an interesting one next season as it could well become a top 7. They have money to burn.

They'll need to burn through it to attract players, unless the agent who's using them sends more players their way.

They're only Wolves, all they've got to attract players is money or 'paying' an agent for his clients.

[Chester Perry]

Re Wolves: The owners of the club are also significant shareholders in the agency - around 30% I believe -

I suspect that this kind of thing is unethical and COULD (not is) be misused for money laundering and the authorities are likely to ban it in the future. I know it is old fashioned vertical integration but this along with multiple club ownership and talent pooling such as City are doing are not conducive to fair competition.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... s-signings" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Chester Perry]

More on agents

a kind of world ranking from the Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... of-thrones" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;