Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has ended David Beckham’s two-year reign as the best-paid player in world football, according to France Football magazine’s annual ‘rich list’. Argentinean forward Messi, who scored a second successive La Liga hat-trick in Barcelona’s 4-2 win over Real Zaragoza on Sunday, has estimated annual earnings of €33 million, ahead of Beckham (€30.4 million) in second and Cristiano Ronaldo in third (€30 million).
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Talks between Maicon and Inter regarding his future have been postponed until the end of the season, claims agent Antonio Caliendo.
Spanish press continue to link Maicon with a move to Real Madrid at the end of term. His deal at San Siro expires in June 2012, and there is no rush to discuss his next move. “I think that Inter need to win the Champions League, and then we will speak,” Caliendo told Ilsussidiario.net. “Will he leave at the end of the season? I will discuss this with Massimo Moratti directly.”
When David Trezeguet scored after 90 seconds to put Juventus 4-1 ahead on aggregate last night Fulham’s European adventure looked set for an ignominious end. But Bobby Zamora quickly scored to restore hope…
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Mourinho surprised a lacklustre Chelsea, firstly by fielding a very attacking formation (the Dutchman behind three strikers) and then by playing an astute tactical game, based on pressure and organisation. The only dangers came late in the first half, when Ancelotti’s men had their chances and there were a couple of occasions when a penalty might have been awarded. Then a great second half and the superb goal
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Former English Football League chairman Brian Mawhinney has said a salary cap on clubs from the Championship to League 2 – England’s second to fourth-tiers – is needed to halt the spiral into debt that so many are facing. “The business model of professional football in this country doesn’t work, it’s broke and you see that reflected in the administrations and all the rest of it,” Mawhinney said, as reported by Reuters. “I have some clubs in the Football League who are paying up to 85 per cent of their income in wages. I don’t care how great you are, you may be the best business entrepreneur the country has ever come up with but you cannot run a sustainable business with that sort of model.” Mawhinney was replaced as Football League chairman by businessman Greg Clarke on Friday.
Juventus hitman David Trezeguet was pleased that his side defeated Fulham 3-1 in the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 clash.
But there is some doubt over whether the Frenchman got the final touch on the goal awarded to him.
“[Hasan] Salihamidzic claims that he touched it last, but I did not see it. If he says this, then I have faith in him. As it stands, this goal I will keep to myself,” the 32-year-old affirmed to Tuttosport. “The important thing is that the team won.
“This is a big step forward for the side. My last goal in Europe was against Bayern Munich on that fateful night, and am pleased to have scored again.
“We are going through a better period as a team, as the victory against Fiorentina gave us a lift.
“There is still a long way to go in the Europa League, but we are working towards going as far as we can. The quality of players are there, and Juventus are a side accustomed to winning,” concluded Trezeguet.
Real Madrid is selling fewer replica jerseys than Chelsea or Liverpool, and attendances at its home stadium the Santiago Bernabeu have fallen 7.8 per cent on last season.
And last night’s Champions League exit at the hands of Lyon means it loses the chance to win up to $82 million in prize money, sponsorships and other revenue, according to Simon Chadwick, professor of sports business strategy and marketing at Coventry University Business School in England.
“Many people would have legitimate concerns the club will be unable to generate an acceptable return on their player- investment strategy,” Chadwick said, as reported by Bloomberg. It “would seriously undermine Real Madrid’s business model.”
Real Madrid generated more revenue than any other European club in 2007-08, the latest season for which figures are available.
However the falling attendance figures show it is not immune to the effects of recession. Amid a 19.5 percent unemployment rate in Spain, during the country’s worst recession in 60 years, average attendances at the Bernabeu have fallen to 67,461 this season, from 73,157 last season. Adidas said that the lower jersey sales at Real than at Chelsea and Liverpool are partly because there is a bigger culture of replica-jersey purchases among English fans than their Spanish counterparts.
David Trezeguet last night warned Juventus are determined to end their trophy drought in the Europa League this season. The Serie A giants have not won a title since claiming the Serie A in 2006 – and they were stripped of that cup after the calciopoli scandal and relegated to Serie B. Juventus are currently labouring in fifth in the table and will be without the injured Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, Amauri and Martin Caceres tonight, while Felipe Melo is suspended. But France striker Trezeguet, who won the World Cup in 1998 and Euro 2000, said: “We want to win the Europa League and finish fourth in Serie A to qualify for the Champions League. “We haven’t won anything for years and it is time to show everyone we are still Juventus and a strong squad to be feared all over Europe.”
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The Times reports that as many as two thirds of Manchester United fans are considering not renewing their season tickets next season.
The study conducted by Virgin Money, seems to suggest that supporters are ready to abandon the club in protest of the Glazers ownership.
Fans have seen the average cost of season ticket increase by more than 40% since the Glazers took over the club in 2005. The effect has been that while there has traditionally been a long waiting list for season tickets as demand far outstripped supply, for the first time in living memory a limited number of season tickets were available on general sale last summer.
The club has been the subject of much speculation recently that fans could boycott the club in an attempt to drive the American owners out. Keith Harris, who is one of the figures heading the Red Knights bid to takeover the club, urged supporters to back their bid by refusing to attend matches.
The survey suggests that 15 per cent of season-ticket holders will give up their tickets completely, while another 44 per cent will only buy tickets for matches occasionally.
The study, which also included fans from all the other Premier League clubs notes that 54 per cent of Wolverhampton Wanderers supporters are considering giving up their season tickets.
According to reports yesterday, thousands of fans are preparing to boycott the opening ten minutes of tonight’s Champions League match against AC Milan, leaving the television cameras to pan empty seats in a visual demonstration of anti-Glazer feeling. The prime mover behind the green and gold movement, the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) sought yesterday to play down talk of a mass boycott tonight – although the ploy may be used at other matches.
The backlash against season tickets comes despite figures showing that the cost of attending games has fallen by 6 per cent in the past year. According to the study, fans of Liverpool and Stoke City are the least likely to give up season tickets next year with just 9 per cent of supporters considering cut backs.
European football is at a critical financial crossroads, but needs to guard against over-regulation as it strives to create a new era of financial fair play and co-operation, leading club executives said yesterday.
Speaking at the Soccerex European Forum in Manchester yesterday, Jose Maria Cruz Andres, VP of the board of directors at Sevilla FC, said it was time for European clubs to take urgent, but measured action.
“Football is a strange business in which players and agents win everyday and the owners lose every time … with decisions not taken by the owners but by supporters and the media,” he said. “The problem is that we are spending more on players than we are earning. In the Spanish second division clubs are paying players 150 per cent of their revenues and this is not sustainable. But we don’t need overregulation. We are not a bank or an insurance company. The problem is to find the right measure of regulation on spending and revenue.”
Ernesto Paolilo, CEO and general manage of Inter Milan, added that forces resistant to structural change in Italian football continue to undermine efforts to restructure the league on the Premier League model: “We are part of the same industry and share the same interests but the smaller-sized clubs want money from the big clubs …We need new rules. A lot of clubs in Serie B are in a bad situation and that problem will affect all clubs. Sometimes you need a shock to change the structure.”
The most positive analysis of the current financial crisis however came from Arsenal CEO Ivan Gazidis who said that there was a “growing unanimity” among European clubs on the basic objectives on financial prudence.
Gazidis said that European football needed to build a spirit of partnership among club owners similar to that seen in Major League Soccer, where “owners are much more collaborative off the field”. The result of such collaboration, he said, would be that football could “attract sensible people [owners/investors] who, at the moment, are sitting on the sidelines.”
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