Here are some of last week’s top stories from around the global soccer industry…
Global Transfer Spending Grows 44% Since 2011 (FC Business)
Spending on transfers has increased by over 44% since 2011 according to a report by FIFA TMS.
FIFA TMS released its Global Transfer Market (GTM) Report today showing that 2015 was another record-breaking year for international transfers.
The GTM Report 2016 provides a comprehensive and transparent review of international transfer activities.
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FC Bayern Munich announce Beats by Dre partnership (Soccerex)
German Bundesliga giants FC Bayern Munich have announced a new partnership with Beats Electronics LLC.
The Apple-owned audio company, founded by rapper and producer Dr. Dre, will be the club’s exclusive headphone and speaker provider.
Bayern playmaker Mario Götze is already a Beats by Dre ambassador, along with the likes of LeBron James and Serena Williams.
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Real Madrid top money league again as soccer club revenues surge (Reuters)
Real Madrid are the richest soccer club by revenue for the 11th straight year and La Liga rivals Barcelona have leapfrogged Manchester United into second, according to Deloitte’s Football Money League.
Real topped the list published on Thursday, with an annual revenue of 577 million euros ($629.3 million) as the combined figure for the top 20 Money League clubs rose by eight percent to a record high of 6.6 billion euros.
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Why Swansea City are desperate to avoid relegation this season (BBC)
For the first time in 13 years, Swansea City are involved in a relegation battle.
Only a 4-2 win over Hull on 3 May 2003 stopped the south Wales club from dropping out of the Football League.
Three promotions and more than a decade of steady growth later, slipping into the second tier would arguably be no disgrace, given how far the Swans have come.
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Jurgen Klinsmann exclusive: Morris, Dempsey, MLS, Olympics and pressure (ESPN FC)
In an exclusive interview with ESPN FC, U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann discusses a variety of topics, including his happiness over Jordan Morris’ move to Seattle, Clint Dempsey’s future, where the next wave of attackers might come from, and his objection to the perception that he is anti-MLS.
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Swiss Bank Julius Baer Dismisses Client Adviser in FIFA Inquiry (Bloomberg)
Julius Baer Group Ltd., Switzerland’s third-largest wealth manager, said it fired a client adviser after an internal probe into links to soccer’s world governing body FIFA.
“An employee has been dismissed in summer 2015 in connection with our internal investigation,” Jan Vonder Muehll, a spokesman for the Zurich-based company, said Tuesday in an e-mail to Bloomberg News. Julius Baer declined to identify the ex-employee.
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There Are Signs That A U.S. Women’s Soccer League Is Finally Working (Huffington Post)
Eight months ago, Cameron Payne whizzed around New York City on the night before he would become a millionaire, bouncing between the media appearances and celebrations that await players invited to attend the NBA draft.
Payne, a guard at Murray State University, had faced an unexpected decision at the end of his sophomore season after he blossomed into one of the nation’s top point guards. Should he skip his final two years of collegiate eligibility for the massive payday that awaited in the NBA now? He made the leap, and the Oklahoma City Thunder selected him with the 15th pick.
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UEFA stumps up €500K as Infantino jets worldwide in bid for FIFA top job (Inside World Football)
Cracks are beginning to appear over UEFA’s supposedly unified stance behind Gianni Infantino’s bid to become FIFA president as a result of his €500,000 campaign fund – understood to be hard cash budgeted for his political push that doesn’t include other costs for campaign services provided by UEFA.
UEFA confirmed to Insideworldfootball that they had agreed what they described as a “relevant budget” to fund their general secretary’s presidential campaign at an executive committee meeting in October of last year. The money allocated was not disclosed at a press conference following that meeting, nor was it openly disclosed to UEFA’s members.
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MLS Commissioner Don Garber talks St. Louis expansion with Sports Illustrated (Major League Soccer)
Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber sat down with Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl at last week’s SuperDraft in Baltimore, with SI.com releasing their interview last Friday as part of their weekly Planet Futbol podcast.
Garber and Wahl touched on a number of topics, diving deepest on expansion. MLS is aiming to expand to 24 teams by 2020, with Atlanta United FC set to enter the league in 2017, Minnesota United FC and LAFC scheduled to move into MLS by 2018 and Miami also plotting its entry.
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FC Barcelona Defender Mascherano Sentenced As Messi Tax Trial Date Is Set (Forbes)
FC Barcelona’s Javier Mascherano has pleaded guilty to two counts of tax fraud.
In a hearing that took a little more than ten minutes, Mascherano admitted that he failed to pay taxes on earnings for the years 2011 and 2012. Like many athletes before him, Mascherano’s tax woes can be tied to assigning image rights to companies located in alleged tax havens.
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This article originally appeared on Business of Soccer. To learn more about BOS you can follow them on Twitter or Facebook.
