All the very latest football news and gossip across Europe!

Here is a round up of all the latest football news/gossip across Europe today, which includes the likes of: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Slaven Bilic, Barcelona, Remi Garde, Isco, Christian Benteke, Antonio Conte, Juventus, Mario Gotze, Jurgen Klopp, Fernando Torres, Mesut Ozil, Juan Mata and Rafael Benitez to name but a few!


Manchester United are planning a sensational summer swoop for PSG's Zlatan Ibrahimovic. United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward hopes to tempt Ibrahimovic with a two-year deal worth a staggering £250,000-a-week - Daily Star

Napoli are also considering a move for Zlatan Ibrahimovic should Gonzalo Higuain leave in the summer. The Italian daily report that the club are ready to make a two year offer to the Swedish striker which would see him earn £3milllion a year - Tuttosport (Italian sport newspaper published in Turin)

Barcelona are planning a mosaic tribute before the El Clasico game with Real Madrid on 2 April to their former player and manager Johan Cruyff, who has died of cancer aged 68 - Marca (Spanish newspaper)

Premier League academy players will be made to attend social media workshops in aftermath of Adam Johnson child sex scandal - Daily Mail

Aston Villa are considering former Swansea City boss Garry Monk, 37, as a replacement for current boss Remi Garde - The Sun

West Ham are planning to reward manager Slaven Bilic with a new contract – but won’t make a final decision until January. West Ham joint-chairman David Sullivan said in the Mirror: "I will give Slaven a new deal in January. I just want to see that he is not a one-season wonder" - Daily Mirror and skysports.com

Liverpool and Arsenal are poised to move for 23 year-old Bayern Munich midfielder Mario Gotze - Daily Express and Daily Mail

Barcelona are keen on Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil. According to the Spanish media, the Germany international is keen to return to Spain, while Barcelona could look to offer makeweights in any potential offer to drive down the size of the transfer fee. Arsenal are interested in the Barcelona trio of Arda Turan, Munir El Haddadi and Sandro Ramirez - AS (Spain's leading newspaper)

Juventus will be keeping one eye on the availability of Chelsea stars Oscar, Willian, Nemanja Matic and Eden Hazard in the summer. It is reported that Antonio Conte - if he lands the Chelsea job – will look to make big changes to the squad, which could mean he’ll have to shift some of his higher earning players - Tuttosport (Italian sport newspaper published in Turin)

Liverpool may offer striker Christian Benteke, 25, as part of a deal to land Roma's Argentine midfielder Leandro Paredes, 21, who is currently on loan at Empoli - Daily Mirror

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is preparing a summer move for Stuttgart and Serbia left winger Filip Kostic, 23, although work permit issues could hamper the move - Bild (German tabloid newspaper)

Roma have reportedly slapped a £35m price-tag on midfielder Radja Nainggolan, who is a possible target for Chelsea and Manchester United - Daily Express

Manchester United playmaker Juan Mata has been linked with a shock move to Turkish side Fenerbahce - Daily Express and A Spor (Turkish Sport TV channel)

Inter Milan are tracking Manchester duo Gael Clichy and Juan Mata - Tuttomercatoweb.com

Manchester City are eyeing a move for 24 year-old Leicester City midfielder N'Golo Kante - Daily Star

Manchester City and Juventus are ready to compete for Real Madrid's 23-year-old Spain midfielder Isco, and James Rodriguez could also be heading for the exit at the Bernabeu.- Daily Mirror

Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte, 21, could be one of Pep Guardiola's first signings at Manchester City, after the Blues agreed to meet the Frenchman's £39.6m release clause - Daily Telegraph

Fernando Torres is attracting interest from Lazio. Torres is currently on loan at Atletico Madrid from AC Milan, and his contract with the Serie A side expires in the summer - Corriere della Sera (An Italian daily newspaper published in Milan)

Juventus and Spanish international striker Alvaro Morata last night opened the door to a close-season move to Liverpool or Arsenal - The Sun and Daily Mail

Leicester and Algeria winger Riyad Mahrez, 25, is good enough to play for Barcelona, according to former midfielder Xavi - Al-Araby Al-Jadeed (An Arabic and English media outlet headquartered in London)

West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace are both eyeing a move for 20 year-old Werder Bremen midfielder Florian Grillitsch - skysports.com

Leeds United midfielder Lewis Cook, 19, is £10m summer target for Everton and Stoke City - The Sun

Despite reports that 18-year-old Marcus Rashford is set to sign a new contract at Manchester United, it is our understand that nothing is imminent. However, given his form, a new contract is likely in the near future. He is currently on a £1,000-a-week deal - skysports.com.

Manchester City fans will have to pay £71 for a ticket to watch the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final away to Paris St-Germain. The tie is on 6 April - Manchester Evening News

Marko Arnautovic says moving to Stoke City "breathed new life" into his career but is not sure if he will sign a new contract with the club - skysports.com

Newcastle United striker Adam Armstrong, 19, will stay on loan at League One Coventry City as Magpies boss Rafael Benitez does not want to scar him in a relegation fight. Armstrong has scored 19 goals in 33 league appearances for the Sky Blues - chroniclelive.co.uk

Norwich City and Northern Ireland striker Kyle Lafferty has agreed to join Birmingham City on loan for the rest of the season - skysports.com

World Cup-winning Germany midfielder Toni Kroos thinks England have a good chance at Euro 2016 - The Sun

England U21 boss Gareth Southgate says England are right to be cautious about calling up Manchester United youngster Marcus Rashford - Daily Star

Myths and Legends about St. Patrick's Day!

St Patrick's Day or the Feast of Saint Patrick is one of the biggest celebrations around the world, with ex-pats from the United States to Hong Kong celebrating everything Irish on 17th March - the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (c. AD 385–461). St. Patrick's Day is that one day of the year when everybody is Irish......or at least pretends to be!

Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated in more countries than any other national festival, but what does that actually entail? When it comes to St. Patrick's Day history, the United States has all kinds of traditions that, frankly, aren't even Irish. Who was Saint Patrick anyway? And what myths and legends about this Irish holiday have we all been blindly thinking are true for years?

Below are a list of some of the most interesting/unusual St. Patrick's Day tales I could find, as I try to separate the myths from the reality, and let you in on the truth and history of how this particular holiday came about and is truly celebrated.


1/ THE MYTH:  St. Patrick was Irish

THE REALITY: Saint Patrick, who was born in the late 4th century, was one of the most successful Christian missionaries in history. Born in Britain to a Christian family of Roman citizenship, he was taken prisoner at the age of 16 by a group of Irish raiders who attacked his family’s estate. They transported him to Gaelic Ireland, and he spent six years in captivity before escaping back to Britain. Believing he had been called by God to Christianize Ireland, he joined the Catholic Church and studied for 15 years before being consecrated as the church’s second missionary to Ireland. Patrick began his mission to Ireland in 432, and by his death in 461, the island was almost entirely Christian.

Some historians claim his name is in dispute, as later documents, from after Patrick’s time, list his birth name as "Maewyn Succat." His two letters are signed by "Patricius," and he probably adopted the name Patrick from the Latin for "well born" (meaning of aristocratic or high-ranking birth)


2/ THE MYTH:  St. Patrick wore green

THE REALITY: In modern celebrations of St. Patrick’s Day, revelers wear green, eat and drink green foods and turn everything they can dye green. This tradition is said to commemorate St. Patrick’s use of the shamrock in his religious teaching, but didn’t really become a part of his feast celebration until the 19th century. In reality, St. Patrick wore blue.


3/ THE MYTH:  Leprechauns are inexorably linked with St. Patrick’s Day

THE REALITY: While the little green, red-bearded troublemakers are an important part of Irish folklore in general, they have literally nothing to do with the historical St. Patrick’s Day. Leprechauns didn’t appear in Irish literature until the Middle Ages, well after Patrick’s return to Ireland.
While you’ll probably see drawings of leprechauns during your St. Patrick’s Day shenanigans, it’s not because of their link to the holiday, it’s just because they make a handy representation of  "something Irish" – mostly due to pop culture depictions.


4/ THE MYTH:  The Irish get very drunk on St. Patrick’s Day 

THE REALITY: Originally, 17th March, the recorded day of St. Patrick’s death, was celebrated as a Catholic feast and a quiet religious observance. The first largely public celebration of St. Patrick’s Day took place in Boston in 1737. It did not become a national holiday in Ireland until 1903. In fact, until the 1970's, pubs in Ireland were required by law to be closed on 17th March.



5/ THE MYTH:  St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland

THE REALITY: The legend of St. Patrick says that he is celebrated for driving all the snakes out of Ireland. The only problem with this legend is that biologists now believe there were never snakes in Ireland. Before the last Ice Age, Ireland was simply too cold for snakes to survive, then when the glaciers receded, it left the land an island, impossible for snakes to reach. Fossil records from the country corroborate this, as no evidence of snakes has ever been found among the animals living there. Most likely, the legend of the snakes is a metaphor for St. Patrick driving paganism out of Ireland by converting so many people to Christianity.



6/ THE MYTH:  Chicago dyes the Chicago River green for St. Patrick’s Day, so why don’t they dye it blue the rest of year?

THE REALITY: The Windy City does dye the Chicago River green on St. Patrick’s Day. This tradition began in 1962 when the parade organizer, head of a plumbers’ union, noticed that the dye that had been used to find sources of river pollution stained his clothing green. He thought it would be a great idea to use enough dye to turn the whole river green for the city’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Researchers say the environmental impact of the dye is less than that of the pollution from sewage-treatment plants.
But as for dyeing it blue the rest of the year - bodies of water are the color they are because of the light that gets filtered through the water, not because of what’s in them. Fill a glass of water from the Chicago River, and it’ll be neither green nor blue, but clear.


7/ THE MYTH:  America has more Irish than Ireland

THE REALITY: There are more many people in America who have full or partial Irish ancestry than there are in Ireland. According to a US Census of 2013, nearly 34 million Americans had Irish ancestry - around 10% of the total population. The population of Ireland is just four and a half million people.

The areas of America that retain a significant Irish-American population include the metropolitan areas of Boston, Philadelphia, Providence, Hartford, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Baltimore, New York City, Chicago, Cleveland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, where most new arrivals of the 1830–1910 period settled. As a percentage of the population, Massachusetts is the most Irish state, with well over 20% of its population claiming Irish descent.


8/ THE MYTH:  Corned beef and cabbage are the traditional St. Patrick's Day feast

THE REALITY: In America, sure. But debates rage as to whether or not this is actually a traditional Irish meal. Proponents say it is, based on the curing of ham to use on long ocean voyages. Others say it’s a more American twist on traditional Irish cuisine.

The truth is somewhere in the middle. The Irish, like pretty much everyone else, would salt-cure meat – but cows were expensive and needed for producing milk, so they’d rarely be slaughtered for food. Irish corned beef was extremely popular in England in the first half of the 1800's, but it was far too expensive for rural Irish tenant farmers to eat.

However, Irish immigrants in New York City’s Lower East Side couldn’t get the pork they were used to eating, as it was much more expensive in the US. So they bought corned beef from their Jewish neighbors because it was cheaper. The corned beef found in pubs and on dinner tables in America is much closer to traditional deli corned beef than what was for sale in Ireland 200 years ago.

To wash this down, those who want to be truly Irish will have a pint of Guinness. The brewer says more than 13 million pints will be consumed around the world on St. Patrick’s Day. So raise a glass!


9/ THE MYTH:  St. Patrick’s Day parades stepped off in Ireland 

THE REALITY: The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was actually held in New York City in 1762, when Irish soldiers serving in the British Army during the Revolutionary War, also known as the American War of Independence (1775–1783), marched through the city to celebrate the religious feast day and their Irish roots. The first parade in Ireland took place in Dublin in 1931.


10/ THE MYTH:  The shamrock is the symbol of St. Patrick’s Day, but for extra luck, you really want a four-leaf clover – which is also Irish

THE REALITY: Four-leaf clovers are prized for their rarity, and as such, are thought to bring great luck. But the difference between the shamrock and the four-leaf clover is more than just a leaf – one is a symbol of national pride, and the other isn’t!

The four-leaf clover isn’t intrinsically Irish in any way, being a universal symbol for good fortune – and one that can be found everywhere. In fact, the clover with the most leaves in history (56, to be exact) was found in Moroka, Japan in 2009.


11/ THE MYTH:  You kiss the Blarney Stone on St. Patrick’s Day to get the gift of the gab

THE REALITY:The Blarney Stone is another one of those intrinsically "Irish" things that people use as shorthand for Irish culture. But it has nothing to do with St. Patrick, as Blarney Castle wasn’t built until 1446, a thousand years after the time of St. Patrick. As an aside, both native Irish people and hygiene experts agree that actually kissing the Blarney Stone is incredibly unsanitary and quite overrated as a tourist destination.

Statistically, the EA Sports best performing players in the English Premier League so far this season!

The EA SPORTS PPI (Player Performance Index) is the only official player rating index of the Barclays Premier League which measures a player's all round contribution to the success of his team using six key indices:

The intention is to remove any opinion bias and only work with proven statistical measurements which become more accurate as the season progresses.

Season 2015/16 - Last update: 08/03/16

For those of you currently playing 'Fantasy Premier League Football' you may want to take note!


Goalkeepers:

1. Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester) 356 EA Sports PPI  
2. Petr Cech (Arsenal) 340
3. Hugo Lloris (Tottenham) 321
4. Jack Butland (Stoke City) 319 (right)
5. Adrian (West Ham) 294
6. Heurelho Gomes (Watford) 289
7. Joe Hart (Man City) 284
8. Lukasz Fabianski (Swansea) 270
9. David de Gea (Man Utd) 267
10. Simon Mignolet (Liverpool) 267


Defenders:

1. Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham) 468
2. Scott Dann (Crystal Palace) 412
3. Charlie Daniels (Bournemouth) 404
4. Eric Dier (Tottenham) 403
5. Wes Morgan (Leicester) 400 (right)
6. Ashley Williams (Swansea) 395
7. Héctor Bellerín (Arsenal) 380
8. Aaron Cresswell (West Ham) 379
9. Nacho Monreal (Arsenal) 370
10. Robert Huth (Leicester) 364


Midfielders:

1. Riyad Mahrez (Leicester) 779
2. Mesut Özil (Arsenal) 625
3. Christian Eriksen (Tottenham) 587
4. Ross Barkley (Everton) 567
5. Dimitri Payet (West Ham) 534
6. Dele Alli (Tottenham) 508
7. Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal) 484
8. Georginio Wijnaldum (Newcastle) 477
9. Yaya Toure (Man City) 454
10. Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea) 441


Forwards:

1. Harry Kane (Tottenham) 755
2. Jamie Vardy (Leicester) 743
3. Romelu Lukaku (Everton) 639
4. Odion Ighalo (Watford) 620
5. Sergio Agüero (Man City) 522
6. Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) 485
7. Diego Costa (Chelsea) 441
8. Roberto Firmino (Liverpool) 419 (right)
9. Troy Deeney (Watford) 415
10. Marko Arnautovic (Stoke) 408


The Six Key Indices:

1. Winning Performance

Players receive points for time on the pitch in a successful team. Players will receive more points if they play the full 90 minutes in a winning team. This index shares league points won by a team between the players according to the minutes they are on the pitch. Only time on the pitch and points scored are taken into account in this first index.

2. Player's Performance per match

Players receive points for positive influences on a winning performance (shots on target, tackles, clearances, saves etc). Players have points taken away from their score for negative actions such as shots off target and receiving yellow and/or red cards.

3. Appearances

Players receive points for minutes on the pitch. The number of points won by ALL teams in the Barclays Premier League are divided among the players according to the number of minutes they have played. This does not take into account the result of a match, it awards points purely for playing time.

4. Goals scored

Players are awarded points for scoring goals. These points are only given to the goalscorer.

5. Assists

Players are awarded points for assists. These points are only awarded to players that make the assist.
Assists are awarded to the player from the goal scoring team who makes the last touch before the goal is scored.
If after this touch, an opposing player touches the ball outside the penalty area altering the intended destination of the ball, then no assist is given, except if this intervention directly results in an own goal.
In the event of a penalty or free-kick, the player earning the penalty or free-kick gets an assist if a goal is directly scored, but not if he takes it himself, in which case no assist is given.

6. Clean sheets

Allocates points for clean sheets to the whole team. The proportionate split of the points is weighted according to the player's position. Therefore a goalkeeper will be awarded a greater proportion of the points for keeping a clean sheet than a striker. The points are also awarded proportionately to the time spent on the pitch.


N.B. The overall EA SPORTS PPI is a correlation between all of the above indices. The Index only includes actions that can be measured objectively and does not reward one action more than another (e.g. a pass by a midfielder will not gain more points than a tackle made by a defender). Subjective factors relating to individual players' skill levels or evidence of a specific flair, such as a particularly spectacular pass or goal, are not included within the index.

Babe of the Month - Hanging out with Sierra Blair-Coyle

Sierra Dominique Blair-Coyle was born 30th January 1994 in Scottsdale, Arizona and is arguably the most recognizable female professional rock climber today.

Sierra hardly needs an introduction. When she’s not climbing and modeling, this 22-year-old keeps busy studying marketing at Arizona State University and interacting with her some 200,000 Facebook followers.

Sierra, has been climbing since the age of eight has been competing professionally since the age of 14.

Before she discovered climbing, Sierra wanted to become a model, actress, and singer. After she discovered climbing, she wanted to become a professional rock climber. Being able to do both she says: "is like living two childhood dreams, so to speak."

The first time Sierra climbed was on a wall at a local outdoor mall at Desert Ridge. She instantly loved climbing and would beg her parents to take her back every single day! After that she told her parents that she wanted to start competing in rock climbing. At the time, Sierra said that her parents did not know that climbing was an organized sport. Luckily, there was an article in the newspaper two weeks later about a local climbing team and how they had just competed at the Nationals. she immediately went to the gym, joined the team, and started competing!

However, her path to the top has been far from easy, as she battled through a severe back injury as a teenager which threaten to cripple her - and end her dreams of being a climber.
At the age of 16 Sierra started having lower back pain. She eventually had an MRI scan and they found she had a bulging, torn and herniated disc in her back.

Sierra said: "The thought of giving up climbing didn't occur to me when my back was hurt because people get injured in all sports. The more athletes you meet the more you realize everyone is walking around broken. All that matters is how you move forward. Luckily I am healed now, but my back will still act up from time to time."


Voted one of the Top 99 Most Outstanding Women of 2015 by AskMen, she has also been a World Cup Competitor (2010-2015) and two-time U.S National Champion as a junior competitor, in 2005 and 2007.



Outside of climbing says: I want to live a life that I love, doing what I love. It would be great to model more, travel (even more!), work with animal shelters, go to graduate school.......the list goes on. I have a lot of things I want to accomplish in this life!


Sierra is sponsored and/or affiliated to the following companies/organisations:
Sanuk, Falken Tire, SPY, Climb X Gear, Asana Climbing, BlueWater Ropes, The Law Office of Devin W. Quackenbush, Cell Med Clinics, Tea of a Kind, Uncle Andy's Jerky and Quotable Cards.



You can follow Sierra on 
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr








* Some photographs courtesy of Jackie Sterna/Media Drum World and ESG Photography

The Best Free Agents this Summer!

Since the introduction of the Bosman ruling in 1995, clubs have strived to extend deals more than 12 months in advance of their contract expiry in a bid to avoid losing key assets for knock-down prices, or worse still for free come deadline time.

With the Financial Fair Play rules now in place, many clubs are looking for bargains when it comes to signing players. This is why they will be checking on who is available on a free transfer at the end of this season.

A look at the list of players nearing the ends of their contracts across Europe raises the possibility of many intriguing deals.

Here I take a look at a selection of the players whose current deals are due to expire in the summer of 2015!

Zlatan Ibrahimović - Age: 34 / Current Club: Paris Saint-Germain / Position: Forward

Branislav_Ivanović - Age: 31 / Current Club: Chelsea / Position: Right-Back

Riccardo Montolivo - Age: 31 / Current Club: AC Milan / Position: Midfielder

Tom Carroll - Age: 23 / Current Club: Tottenham / Position: Central Midfielder

Sofiane Feghouli - Age: 26 / Current Club: Valencia / Position: Winger

Emmanuel Adebayor - Age: 31 / Current Club: Crystal Palace / Position: Forward

Hatem Ben Arfa - Age: 28 / Current Club: Nice / Position: Attacking Midfielder

Tom Huddlestone - Age: 29 / Current Club: Hull City / Position: Midfielder

Ricky Álvarez - Age: 27 / Current Club: Sampdoria / Position: Attacking Midfielder

Samir Handanovic - Age: 31 / Current Club: Inter Milan / Position: Goalkeeper

John Terry - Age: 35 / Current Club: Chelsea / Position: Centre-Back

Nicolas Nkoulou - Age: 25 / Current Club: Marseille / Position: Defender

Cameron Borthwick-Jackson - Age: 29 / Current Club: Manchester United / Position: Left-Back

André Carrillo - Age: 29 / Current Club: Sporting Lisbon / Position: Winger

Tonny Vilhena - Age: 21 / Current Club: Feyenoord / Position: Midfielder

Victor Valdes - Age: 34 / Current Club: Manchester United / Position: Goalkeeper

Miguel Veloso- Age: 29 / Current Club: Dynamo Kiev / Position: Left-Back

Jon Flanagan - Age: 23 / Current Club: Liverpool / Position: Full-Back

Éve Banega - Age: 27 / Current Club: Sevilla / Position: Central Midfielder

Mikel Arteta - Age: 19 / Current Club: Arsenal / Position: Left-Back

Caner Erkin - Age: 27 / Current Club: Fenerbahçe / Position: Left-Back

James Morrison - Age: 29 / Current Club: West Brom / Position: Midfielder

Álvaro Arbeloa - Age: 33 / Current Club: Real Madrid / Position: Full-Back

Kevin-Prince Boateng - Age: 28 / Current Club: AC Milan / Position: Midfielder

Steven Fletcher - Age: 28 / Current Club: Sunderland / Position: Forward

Nenad Tomović - Age: 28 / Current Club: Fiorentina / Position: Defender

Steven Pienaar - Age: 33 / Current Club: Everton / Position: Attacking Midfielder

Martin Caceres - Age: 28 / Current Club: Juventus / Position: Defender

Joel Campbell - Age: 23 / Current Club: Arsenal / Position: Forward

Steve Mandanda - Age: 30 / Current Club: Marseille / Position: Goalkeeper

Gregory van der Wiel - Age: 30 / Current Club: Paris Saint-Germain / Position: Right-Back

Junior Hoilett - Age: 25 / Current Club: Queens Park Rangers / Position: Winger

Ron Vlaar - Age: 31 / Current Club: Paris Saint-Germain / Position: Centre-Back

Mathieu Flamini - Age: 31 / Current Club: Arsenal / Position: Midfielder

Marcos Alonso - Age: 25 / Current Club: Fiorentina / Position: Left-Back

Stéphane Sessègnon - Age: 31 / Current Club: West Brom / Position: Midfielder

Marc Wilson - Age: 28 / Current Club: Stoke City / Position: Centre-Back

The Most Powerful Football Agents 2015

Business analysts Forbes have published their most recent findings on the
'World's Richest Football Agents' with those responsible for brokering deals for the biggest names unsurprisingly near the top of the list.
Premier League clubs spent over £1billion on transfers in 2015, shattering the equivalent figures recorded by the other major European leagues.

With the role of the agent becoming more and more prominent, here we look at the most powerful middle men currently doing business in the game.


7/ Thomas Kroth

Thomas Kroth was born 26 August 1959 in Erlenbach am Main, Germany. Kroth is a former Bundesliga professional football player.

Kroth won the DFB-Pokal (German Cup) with three different teams. In 1983 with FC Köln, in 1987 with Hamburger SV and in 1989 with Borussia Dortmund. In 1985, he earned one cap for Germany against Hungary.

Kroth retired from his pro soccer career in 1991 to enter into the player representation business. These days, his agency Pro Profil, represents over 110 football/soccer players throughout Europe and the world including: Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, former Manchester United playmaker Shinji Kagawa, Dynamo Kyiv defender Aleksander Dragovic, Shinji Okazaki of Leicester City, Bayern Munich midfielder Sebastian Rode and Watford's José Holebas.


Contracts worth: £146m
Commissions (career payments for completed deals): £14.7m

Thomas Kroth is ranked #25 richest sports agent in the world by Forbes.


6/ Fernando Felicevich

Fernando Felicevich was born 22 April 1970 in Argentina.

Until the age of 33, Fernando Felicevich never had contact with professional football.
But Fernando Felicevich is now the king of South American soccer, representing the likes of Bayern Munich midfielder Arturo Vidal, Aresenal's Alexis Sanchez (below) and Inter Milan midfielder Gary Medel, Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, Felipe Guitiérrez who plays for FC Twente in the Eredivisie, and Charles Aránguiz who plays in Qatar.

Felicevich's has a sterling reputation in the global football business for his pragmatic approach to negotiation, as well as parental relationship with many of his players.

In Chile he works with a counselor who can provide services to his players. Fernando always cares about his players’ image and the information that appears about them. You can see that just taking a look at his Twitter account: he uses it to inform about transfers, to correct incorrect news and to answer when someone has any doubts about one of the footballers he represents.

Felicevich has become one of the game's most coveted agents, having enjoyed an extremely lucrative 12 months following the Brazil World Cup in 2014, where they reached the round of 16 before being eliminated by the host nation.
Chile's success at the tournament laid the platform for things to come and they went on to win the Copa América the following year, with four of manager Jorge Sampaoli's side now having signed big-money deals across Europe - all coming from Felicevich's stable.


Contracts worth: £148m
Commissions (career payments for completed deals): £15m

Fernando Felicevich is ranked #23 richest sports agent in the world by Forbes.


5/ Mino Raiola

Mino Raiola was born 4 November 1967 in Nocera Inferiore in the Salerno province of southern Italy.

A one man show, Mino Raiola is one of the most powerful agents in the soccer industry. Raiola, of Maguire Tax & Legal in the Netherlands, represents a small (relative to multi-agent agencies) but star studded collection of players (approx. 35 in total).

Sir Alex Ferguson may have blamed Raiola for the departure of Paul Pogba from Manchester United on the cheap, but the player's agent is synonymous with the trade, becoming a revered figure among his peers in recent years.

Mino Raiola with his client  Zlatan Ibrahimović in Milan

Raiola powerful roster of soccer’s top talent includes: Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimović, Juventus star Paul Pogba, Italian striker Mario Balotelli, Everton striker Romelu Lukaku, Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Blaise Matuidi, Borussia Dortmund's Henrikh Mkhitaryan and AC Milan's Ignazio Abate.


Contracts worth: £186m
Commissions (career payments for completed deals): £18.7m

Mino Raiola is ranked #22 richest sports agent in the world by Forbes.


4/ José Otin (José Antonio Martín Otin)

Founder and president of Bahia International, Otin transitioned form a career in radio to the sports agent business by recruiting some of the Iberian Peninsula's best players. Dealing only in players from his homeland of Spain, Otin represents the likes of Chelsea striker Pedro, Bayern Munich midfielder Javi Martinez, Spanish international Fernando Torres, Manchester City's Jesus Navas, Sevilla FC winger Víctor Pérez, Athletic Bilbao midfielder Raúl García, Valencia CF's Dani Parejo, Real Sociedad's Asier Illarramendi, Málaga CF midfielder Ignacio Camacho and Arsenal's Nacho Monreal

Otin has cast his net across Europe, reaping the rewards of negotiating deals for some of the biggest stars across the top five leagues from one country to another. The Bahia Internacional agent deals exclusively with Spanish footballers, but that hasn't stopped the man who once worked in radio from sending his clients abroad.


Contracts worth: £191m
Commissions: (career payments for completed deals): £19.2m

Jose Otin is ranked #15 richest sports agent in the world by Forbes.


3/ Volker Struth

The SportsTotal agent is the most powerful middle man in German football, with some of the biggest names currently plying their trade in the Bundesliga (considered by many to be the best football league in the world) being on his books.

Mario Gotze is one such illustrious name, but Struth made headlines in the summer when he claimed the current Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola had 'destroyed' his player through a lack of first-team opportunities.

Struth with Mario Gotze and Marco Reus

Other notable clients include: Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus, Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos, Schalke captain Benedikt Howedes, Bayer Leverkusen and Turkish international Ömer Toprak, Borussia Dortmund midfielder Gonzalo Castro, Schalke's German international winger Sidney Sam and Swiss international Josip Drmic.


Contracts worth: £278m
Commissions (career payments for completed deals): £27.8m

Volker Struth is ranked #5 richest sports agent in the world by Forbes.


2/ Jonathan Barnett

Jonathan Barnett was born 28 January 1950. Barnett is one of the most important figures in football — and yet you may never have heard of him. Barnett grew up on Baker Street in the West End of London, entering the workplace as an employee of Curzon House Group, a casino business owned by his family. Barnett owns Stellar Group, an agency he founded with David Manasseh in 1994.

While Barnett's first client was legendary Cricket player Brian Lara, he has made a name for himself since then representing some of the world's best soccer players. Representing well over 100 players throughout dozens of global leagues, Barnett manages the largest roster of clients of any single agent in the Forbes Top 50. Barnett is also often given credit for introducing Lennox Lewis into professional boxing.

Barnett masterminded Gareth Bale's £86million move from Tottenham to Real Madrid in 2013, and the highest-placed Brit on the list also played a crucial role in negotiating Luke Shaw's £27m move from Southampton to Manchester United the following summer.

His clients include: England and Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart, Lyon and Brazilian international Rafael da Silva, Poland's international goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, Swansea's Gylfi Sigurdsson, Newcastle's recent signing Jonjo Shelvey, Everton defender Phil Jagielka, Liverpool's Adam Lallana and former Arsenal, Chelsea and AS Roma defender Ashley Cole.


Contracts worth: £287m
Commissions (career payments for completed deals): £28.8m

Jonathan Barnett is ranked #4 richest sports agent in the world by Forbes.


1/ Jorge Mendes

Jorge Paulo Agostinho Mendes was born 7 January 1966 in Lisbon, Portugal.

Jorge Mendes is often referred to as a "super-agent," having negotiated more than £625m in player contracts, including a £135m deal for client Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo returned the favour when his agent recently got married, buying him a Greek island as a wedding present. He has been recognized as 'FIFA's Agent of the Year' on three occasions by his peers.

Mendes began life as a footballer but was forced to abandon his hopes of a professional career after being rejected by a number of Portuguese clubs when he was in his early 20's. Instead, he ran a video rental store, worked as a DJ and opened a bar and nightclub in Caminha, north-west Portugal.

Mendes, began his football agent career focusing primarily on Portuguese players. He is registered with the Portuguese Football Federation and heads the GestiFute company, which was founded in 1996 and is based in Porto.

Mendes's first deal as a football agent came in 1996 when he brokered Nuno's move from Vitória de Guimarães to Deportivo de La Coruña. He had met the goalkeeper in a bar in Guimarães. After that deal, Mendes gradually attracted more Portuguese players, including Jorge Andrade. Hugo Viana's move from Sporting CP to Newcastle United in the Premier League for around €12 million in 2002 was his first major international transfer.

Part of Mendes's success was ostensibly based on his frequent presence at soccer schools and youth teams throughout Portugal, spotting and signing up young players, as he did with Cristiano Ronaldo and Ricardo Quaresma.

In 2008, GestiFute announced that it had entered into partnership with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in the United States to "create global opportunities for current and future clients," following CAA's expansion into the sports market.

"Sir Alex Ferguson wrote in his new autobiography Leading: 'There are some decent agents, but you don't need all the fingers of one hand to count them. Jorge Mendes is one."

His clients include: Ronaldo, Chelsea striker Diego Costa, Manchester City and French international defender Eliaquim Mangala, Real Madrid winger James Rodriguez, Portuguese international Fábio Coentrão, Real Madrid defender Pepe, Paris Saint-Germain and Brazil defender Thiago Silva, Radamel Falcao currently on loan at Chelsea, AS Monaco's Ricardo Carvalho, Angel di Maria the Paris Saint-Germain and Argentine international, Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea and football manager Jose Mourinho.


Contracts worth: £626.3m
Commissions (career payments for completed deals): £62.8m

Jorge Mendes is ranked #2 richest sports agent in the world by Forbes.

Jorge Mendes with his client Cristiano Ronaldo

Babe of the Month - Fitness Beauty Jamie Eason

Jamie Eason is an American fitness model, writer and online trainer who was born in Houston, Texas on 10th April 1976. Jamie is also a former NFL cheerleader and winner of the World's Fittest Model competition.

While working towards a degree in speech communication/organization at Texas A&M University, she took a weight training class for a kinesiology credit.
It was then that her interest in fitness training began.

In 2001, after graduating from college and while working for her grandfather's roofing company, she tried out for the new Houston Texans cheerleading squad. She was one of 35 girls selected from 1,600 girls in a rigorous two-day process.

After a short time as a Houston Texans cheerleader, she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 22, forcing her to a desk job where her inactive lifestyle and poor nutrition took a toll on her body. In an attempt to get in shape, she joined a local gym. She continued to work out and improve but wasn't completely satisfied with her results. After consulting a nutritionist, she was put on a proper diet that completely transformed her body.

However and at the age of 28 a back injury revealed that she has Spina Bifida Occulta, a minor form of the disease that is quite debilitating during flare-ups. Jamie doesn’t let health ailments get in the way of her career and goals.

As a result of that incident, Jamie became even more determined to take control of her life and health and become a role model for women everywhere.

Jamie explains her personal philosophy that she shares with others:

"This is your life. If you are not who you want to be, change it! It won't be easy and it may take some time, but surround yourself with people who love and support you and go for it! No regrets! Only you dwell on your failures. Good luck and remember the inner strength you'll achieve from adopting a healthy lifestyle, far supersedes anything physical."


With nearly 235,000 followers on Instagram, and a Facebook page with over a million followers, Jamie has appeared on numerous covers of fitness magazines and is one of the most identifiable figures in the industry.

Eason was first discovered at a fitness competition in Austin, Texas. Jamie began her bodybuilding career in 2005 as a fitness and figure athlete, achieving WNBF Figure Pro and WNSO Fitness Model Pro cards and was crowned the "World's Fittest Model" in 2006.

In addition to her work for bodybuilding.com, Jamie is frequently featured in articles and cover photos of many of the top fitness magazines and websites including, Oxygen, Ironman, Status Fitness, MuscleMag, Flex, DXL, Fatfighter.TV, Muscle and Fitness Hers and Planet Muscle.

As a spokesperson, Eason has been dubbed the "female face" of Bodybuilding.com, the world's largest and most-visited online retailer for sports supplements and nutritional products. Jamie also has authored several workout plans and routines that are followed by millions of people on the website.

Jamie also focuses on removing the stereotype that women with muscle are unfeminine. She has stated that she regrets some of her earlier photo shoots that showed 'too much skin' when she began her career modeling.

She continues fitness modeling but encourages young women in fitness and modeling not to show a lot of skin stating "It's not worth it." Her training style mostly revolves around weight training, she has stated she prefers that over cardio training, so she doesn't do cardio training a lot but heavily focuses on weight training.

Jamie was married in July 2012 and gave birth to her son August in late 2013 and is expecting her second child this April.

You can follow Jamie on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

All the very latest transfer gossip across Europe!

With the January transfer window closing in ten days at 11pm GMT on Monday 1st February, here is all today's latest football news and transfer gossip with Louis van Gaal, Manuel Pellegrini, Pep Guardiola, Liverpool, Chelsea, John Stones, Scott Sinclair, Tottenham, Crystal Palace, Real Madrid, Jordan Rhodes, Alex Teixeira, Newcastle and Swansea all in the news! 

Here is a round up of all the latest transfer gossip across Europe today!

Is your club involved?

Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Zenit St Petersburg, Chelsea, Liverpool, Shakhtar Donetsk, Atletico Madrid, Everton, Tottenham, Real Madrid, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Espanyol, Swansea, Blackburn, Sheffield Wednesday, Crystal Palace, VfL Wolfsburg, Stoke, Norwich, Southampton, Porto, AS Roma, Napoli, Shanghai SIPG, Dynamo Kiev, Bournemouth, Peterborough, Besiktas, Atletico Madrid, AC Milan, West Ham, Fiorentina, Spartak Moscow, Watford, QPR, Levante, Middlesbrough, Norwich, Ipswich, FC Copenhagen, Wolves, Nantes, Brentford Leeds and Newport..........are all caught up in the latest transfer news/rumours across Europe, as we speak.

Manchester United have put their major transfers on hold because of the increasing uncertainty over Louis van Gaal's future as manager - Daily Mirror

Manchester United have denied a report in France that officials from the club held a meeting with the outgoing Bayern Munich head coach Pep Guardiola. French newspaper L'Equipe claims the meeting took place in Paris last week, but Sky Sports News HQ have spoken to Manchester United who claim the story is not true - skysports.com

Zenit St Petersburg want Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini to take charge when Andre Villas-Boas leaves at the end of the season - Daily Star

Alexandre Pato's agent has confirmed that four clubs - including Chelsea and Liverpool - have a chance of signing the 26-year-old Brazil striker, but insisted that no bids have yet been made - UOL Esporte (Brazilian publication in Portuguese) and Daily Mirror

European football writer Andy Brassell says Shakhtar Donetsk value 26-year-old Brazilian forward Alex Teixeira at £39m - significantly more than the £24.5m Liverpool are willing to pay for him - BBC Radio 5 live and skysports.com

Atletico Madrid director Andrea Berta has flown to London to try to land Chelsea stars Pedro and Diego Costa - Daily Star

Chelsea are planning to make another move for Everton defender John Stones, despite failing with four bids in the summer, including one in the region of £38million rejected by the Toffees. However, the 21-year-old remains top of their wanted list and they will try again to land him before the end of this month - talksport.com

Tottenham have the first option to re-sign Wales forward Gareth Bale, 26, should he be sold by Real Madrid - according to a leaked document - Daily Mirror

Meanwhile, Bale's representatives are outraged by the leak of financial details of his £85m transfer - Daily Telegraph

Swansea are in talks with Aston Villa about signing winger Scott Sinclair - skysports.com

Newcastle head coach Steve McClaren has made a £7m bid for 30 year-old Swansea striker Bafetimbi Gomis, while Aston Villa's Scott Sinclair is also on their radar - The Sun and Daily Mail

Newcastle have made an offer for Espanyol striker Mamadou Sylla Diallo for a fee of around £1million - Sport (Spanish daily sports newspaper) and talksport.com

However, Newcastle look likely to end their interest in Andros Townsend after Tottenham refused to lower their £14m valuation of the 24-year-old England winger - The Guardian and Daily Telegraph

Swansea have made a move to sign Blackburn striker Jordan Rhodes. Sheffield Wednesday are also thought to be interested in the Scotland international - Daily Mirror

Crystal Palace full-back Pape Souare has signed a new three-and-a-half year contract with the Premier League club - skysports.com

Crystal Palace are considering offering a six-month contract to striker Emmanuel Adebayor, 31, who is a free agent after being released by Tottenham - The Guardian

VfL Wolfsburg's Nicklas Bendtner is set for a sensational Premier League return at Crystal Palace - Daily Star

Stoke have lodged a £19m bid with Porto for midfielder Giannelli Imbula,
The Frenchman move to Portugal last year from Marseille but has struggled for opportunities with Porto. The reports suggests Imbula has also attracted the interest of Southampton - Daily Mirror

Sheffield Wednesday have completed the signing of striker Gary Hooper from Norwich City on a 3-and-a-half-year deal, for an undisclosed fee - skysports.com

Real Madrid defender Nacho Fernandez, 26, is being chased by a host of clubs including Napoli and AS Roma, after it emerged his future at the Bernabeu remains unclear - The Sun and transfermarketweb.com

Mauro Zarate has ended his 18-month spell with West Ham by joining Fiorentina on a permanent contract. Also joining Fiorentina is Argentinian international midfielder Tino Costa, 31 on loan from Spartak Moscow - talksport.com and transfermarketweb.com

Watford are back in talks for 28 year-old Spain international Mario Suarez over a loan move from Fiorentina, which is expected to involve an option to sign Suarez permanently in the summer - skysports.com

Nemanja Matic, 27, is debating his future at Stamford Bridge and may choose to leave Chelsea after a recent dip in form, while John MNikel Obi is wanted by Shanghai SIPG - Daily Mail

Everton boss Roberto Martinez has revealed Kevin Mirallas will not be leaving the club after a string of good performances recently - skysports.com

Dynamo Kiev have told Everton to forget about trying to sign Andriy Yarmolenko this month - Daily Mirror

Bournemouth are showing an interest in Peterborough defender Jack Baldwin - Daily Mail

Real Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa could join Besiktas this month, according to Mundo Deportivo. Arbeloa is inside the final six months of his contract at Real Madrid and Besiktas could look to take advantage of that situation by trying to sign him before the close of the transfer window - Mundo Deportivo (Spanish daily sports newspaper) and skysports.com

Fernando Torres could soon be the highest-paid player in the world, with eight offers on the table according to his agent. The 31-year-old Spain striker is on loan at Atletico Madrid from AC Milan - The Sun and skysports.com

Giuseppe Rossi has signed for Levante on loan for the rest of the season from Fiorentina - skysports.com

Middlesbrough have had a £6m bid for QPR winger Matt Phillips rejected - Daily Mail
and skysports.com

Norwich want to sign Chelsea's Patrick Bamford, after his recent loan spell at Crystal Palace was cut short - Daily Mirror

Ipswich Town have confirmed the signing of Kevin Foley from FC Copenhagen on a deal until the end of the season, subject to international clearance - skysports.com

Wolves are in talks over a £3m deal for Nantes forward Emiliano Sala - Daily Mail

Brentford have agreed a fee with Leeds for midfielder Toumani Diagouraga - skysports.com

Newport County forward Aaron Collins has joined Wolves for an undisclosed fee -skysports.com

Statistically, the EA Sports best performing players in the English Premier League so far this season!

The EA SPORTS PPI (Player Performance Index) is the only official player rating index of the Barclays Premier League which measures a player's all round contribution to the success of his team using six key indices:

The intention is to remove any opinion bias and only work with proven statistical measurements which become more accurate as the season progresses.

Season 2015/16 - Last update: 15/01/16

For those of you currently playing 'Fantasy Premier League Football' you may want to take note!


Goalkeepers:

1. Petr Cech (Arsenal) 272 EA Sports PPI
2. Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester) 258 (right)
3. Jack Butland (Stoke City) 240
4. Hugo Lloris (Tottenham) 221
5. Joe Hart (Man City) 216
6. Tim Howard (Everton) 215
7. Heurelho Gomes (Watford) 211
8. Boaz Myhill (West Brom) 203
9. Adrian (West Ham) 198
10. Simon Mignolet (Liverpool) 197


Defenders:

1. Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham) 330 (below right)
2. Scott Dann (Crystal Palace) 316
3. Aleksandar Kolarov (Man City) 300
4. Bacary Sagna (Man City) 299
5. Eric Dier (Tottenham) 296
6. Aaron Cresswell (West Ham) 295
7. Nacho Monreal (Arsenal) 294
8. Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal) 291
9. Wes Morgan (Leicester) 280
10. Héctor Bellerín (Arsenal) 272


Midfielders:

1. Riyad Mahrez (Leicester) 612
2. Mesut Özil (Arsenal) 476
3. Ross Barkley (Everton) 452
4. Georginio Wijnaldum (Newcastle) 395
5. Yaya Toure (Man City) 388
6. Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal) 382
7. Kevin De Bruyne (Man City) 371
8. Dele Alli (Tottenham) 347
9. Dimitri Payet (West Ham) 345
10. Christian Eriksen (Tottenham) 329



Forwards:

1. Jamie Vardy (Leicester) 550
2. Odion Ighalo (Watford) 510
3. Harry Kane (Tottenham) 509
4. Romelu Lukaku (Everton) 506
5. Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) 380
6. Raheem Sterling (Man City) 344
7. Troy Deeney (Watford) 327
8. Marko Arnautovic (Stoke) 325 (right)
9. Jermain Defoe (Sunderland) 310
10. Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) 309


The Six Key Indices:

1. Winning Performance

Players receive points for time on the pitch in a successful team. Players will receive more points if they play the full 90 minutes in a winning team. This index shares league points won by a team between the players according to the minutes they are on the pitch. Only time on the pitch and points scored are taken into account in this first index.

2. Player's Performance per match

Players receive points for positive influences on a winning performance (shots on target, tackles, clearances, saves etc). Players have points taken away from their score for negative actions such as shots off target and receiving yellow and/or red cards.

3. Appearances

Players receive points for minutes on the pitch. The number of points won by ALL teams in the Barclays Premier League are divided among the players according to the number of minutes they have played. This does not take into account the result of a match, it awards points purely for playing time.

4. Goals scored

Players are awarded points for scoring goals. These points are only given to the goalscorer.

5. Assists

Players are awarded points for assists. These points are only awarded to players that make the assist.
Assists are awarded to the player from the goal scoring team who makes the last touch before the goal is scored.
If after this touch, an opposing player touches the ball outside the penalty area altering the intended destination of the ball, then no assist is given, except if this intervention directly results in an own goal.
In the event of a penalty or free-kick, the player earning the penalty or free-kick gets an assist if a goal is directly scored, but not if he takes it himself, in which case no assist is given.

6. Clean sheets

Allocates points for clean sheets to the whole team. The proportionate split of the points is weighted according to the player's position. Therefore a goalkeeper will be awarded a greater proportion of the points for keeping a clean sheet than a striker. The points are also awarded proportionately to the time spent on the pitch.


N.B. The overall EA SPORTS PPI is a correlation between all of the above indices. The Index only includes actions that can be measured objectively and does not reward one action more than another (e.g. a pass by a midfielder will not gain more points than a tackle made by a defender). Subjective factors relating to individual players' skill levels or evidence of a specific flair, such as a particularly spectacular pass or goal, are not included within the index.

The History of the Replica Football Shirt

A replica football shirt is defined as an (official) copy of a kit. It is a huge business in the United Kingdom.

Though replica shirts have been produced since the late 1950's, they were initially marketed only to children, and sold as part of a full playing strip. Kit designs were also not copyrighted and at times different clubs, such as Derby County and Spurs, wore identical outfits and different manufacturers produced the same designs.

In the good old days any old red shirt could indicate that you were a Liverpool or a United fan. A dark blue would indicate either Everton or Chelsea.

There were only certain teams which deviated - Arsenal had those white sleeves and Blackburn Rovers played in their blue and white halved shirts.
But then things began to change!

At Coventry City, Jimmy Hill realised the kit was something more than just a uniform to wear on the pitch and he introduced the first ever kit of just one colour (other than white) as they changed from their hitherto mostly dark blue shirts with white shorts to a kit of all sky-blue. Bill Shankly only adopted all red for his Liverpool side in 1965-66 - three years after Coventry's all sky-blue affair (below).

Moving into the 1970's Bert Patrick who was the chairman of Admiral (top right), a Leicester-based knitwear firm, spotted an opportunity to produce football teams’ kits in exchange for prominent branding on the shirts, plus exclusive rights to sell the replica versions to fans.

Leeds United, who had changed from their traditional colours of blue and gold to all white in the early 1960's, became the first club to offer their fans the chance to buy replica kits in 1975 as part of their deal with kit supplier Admiral. When Don Revie left Leeds to take over as England Manager the national team entered into a similar arrangement with Admiral.

When Bert Patrick's Leicestershire knitwear company Cook and Hurst, started producing the official England football kit using the trade name ‘Admiral’ - they became the first to include the manufacturer's logo on the chest - and in 1974 he paid the Football Association £16,000 a year for the privilege. England’s traditional plain white shirt was suddenly adorned with red-and-blue sleeve stripes and a yellow logo, much to the horror of traditionalists and to the delight of schoolboys across the nation.

That shirt was the must-have item of 1975, and when Manchester United were also signed up, Admiral had the ‘Big Three’. The rest quickly fell into line. The revolutionary deal allowed Admiral to sell British-made replica shirts to supporters for £5 - increasing to £9 with shorts and socks included.

Now Nike, the current England kit manufacturer, have a £25 million sponsorship deal with the Football Association, and charges fans around £90 for a replica shirt.

Nike also currently represent the England national women's football team too (right).

Between 1975 and 1980, use of different coloured trim on shirts increased by 40 per cent, and manufacturers’ logos soon became ubiquitous.

The Admiral agents had an eye for an opportunity. When Southampton beat Manchester United in the 1976 FA Cup Final both teams wore an Admiral strip that had been designed and manufactured since their semi-final victories, and the multiple logos down sleeves and shorts were exposed to a huge global TV audience.

In the last 25 years, the percentage of clubs changing their home kit at the start of any season has doubled to almost 100 per cent.

Things really took off when Liverpool became the first club to wear a sponsor's name on their shirts following their 1979 deal with Japanese electronics manufacturer Hitachi (right).

Replica shirt sales are important to both sponsors and clubs. In the 1980's, when hooliganism was a factor, club replica shirt sales were quite low and clubs did relatively little to limit the use of official club logos.

Despite Admiral's innovative deals, by the start of the 1980's the competition from the Far East had become too much and Patrick, faced with low profits which were dwindling into losses, was forced to close his factories in Wigston, Leicestershire. Admiral was bought up by a Dutch oil company called, Frisol. By 1984, England had a new kit manufacturer, Umbro.

In 1990, following the National League Baseball Association example, Arsenal were one of the first clubs to register its name, to stop traders outside the football ground selling the club logo at an undercut price (Hallam, 1992).

Following this and the launch of the new FA Premier League in 1992, the League and all individual clubs now jealously protected 'official' club and League products from reproduction or imitation by non club producers.

Today, as the game has rid itself of the 'hooliganism' tag and wearing club shirts has become fashionable, effective licensing deals are crucial to commercial success. All top clubs now have extensive club shops or superstores selling exclusive official club merchandise.

The market for replica shirts has grown enormously, with the revenue generated for leading clubs and the frequency with which they change designs coming under increased scrutiny, especially in the United Kingdom, where the market for replicas is worth in excess of £200m.

Several clubs have been accused of price fixing, and in 2003 Manchester United were fined £1.65m by the Office of Fair Trading. The high prices charged for replicas have also led to many fans buying fake shirts which are imported from countries such as Thailand and Malaysia.
Nonetheless, the chance for fans to purchase a shirt bearing the name and number of a star player can lead to significant revenue for a club.

In the first six months after David Beckham's transfer to Real Madrid in 2003 the club sold more than one million shirts bearing his name.

When Newcastle United signed Alan Shearer (below) in July 1996, the North-East club made £250,000 on the day of his signing, just in terms of Shearer replica shirt sales. 

When Inter Milan, in contrast, signed Ronaldo in 1997, the club had prepared no shirts carrying the Brazilian's favoured No.9. Instead, counterfeit No.9 shirts appeared to satisfy local demand, forcing the club to play their new star as a No. 10 in order to cash in later on official shirt sales!

The adult market for replica football shirts as leisurewear only developed significantly from the late 1980s and early 1990s. Today sales to adults provide the bulk of a billion dollar industry, Manchester United alone selling approximately 2 million shirts per year.


Top selling player shirts (as at 30/09/2015):

10/ Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool/Brazil)

9/ Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal/Chile)

8/ Sergio Agüero (Manchester City/Argentina)

7/ Neymar (Barcelona/Brazil)

6/ Wayne Rooney (Manchester United/England)

5/ Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Belgium)

4/ Bastian Schweinsteiger (Manchester United/Germany)

3/ Memphis Depay (Manchester United/Netherlands)

2/ Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Portugal)

1/ Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina)


# Information courtesy of kitbag.com