Prem Takeover Today

GM football fans. It’s Thursday, Dec. 19, and we’re covering Everton’s takeover, the rise of dynamic pricing and much more. First time reading? Sign up here.

FIXTURES

English League Cup: Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United, 20:00 / 15:00. Man Utd are winless in their last four games against Spurs and were 3-0 losers to them in the Premier League this season. Spurs have also progressed from their previous four quarter-final ties in the EFL Cup.

Results…

• FIFA Intercontinental Cup Final: Real Madrid 3 - 0 Pachuca

• English League Cup QF: Arsenal 3 - 2 Crystal Palace | Newcastle 3 - 1 Brentford | Southampton 1 - 2 Liverpool (Round up)

• Women’s Champions League: Arsenal 3 - 2 Bayern Munich | Juventus 3 - 0 Valerenga | Barcelona 3 - 0 Man City | St Polten 1 - 2 Hammarby (Round up)

• Coppa Italia, last 16: Atalanta 6 - 1 Cesena | Roma 4 - 1 Sampdoria

TOP TALKING POINTS

Everton Takeover Imminent

The Friedkin Group (TFG) is set to complete its takeover of Everton with an official announcement expected today. While the deal is expected to be worth around £600m, this is yet to be confirmed. If the deal goes ahead, 10 of the twenty Premier League clubs will be American-owned.

The takeover represents the end of a drawn-out 18-month process. In September, TFG agreed to purchase Farhad Moshiri’s 94 per cent in the Merseyside club. The deal was subject to regulatory approval from the Premier League, the FA, and the Financial Conduct Authority. Reports say that the takeover has secured approval from the relevant bodies. 

TFG, led by American billionaire Dan Friedkin, bought Roma in 2020 for just under £600m, the same price they’re expected to pay for Everton. The Group do not shy away from making tough decisions if their business becomes affected by performance. They recently received backlash from fans for sacking club legend Daniele De Rossi following a run of four games without a victory.

Dynamic Pricing For Club World Cup

Dynamic pricing – when ticket prices fluctuate based on demand – will be applied to match tickets for next year’s Club World Cup. General sale tickets open on Thursday (Dec. 19) at 15:00 GMT (10:00 ET) for the tournament held in the United States from June 14 to July 13, 2025.

CONMEBOL, the body which governs South American football, used dynamic pricing for the Copa America during this year’s tournament in the US. It’s likely that the 2026 World Cup, hosted in the US, Canada and Mexico, will also follow a similar pricing model.

Price changes based on demand are viewed as controversial in European football. Only La Liga clubs Valencia and Celta Vigo use dynamic pricing, and received backlash from fans earlier this year. Fan groups across the continent, including Football Supporters Europe, strongly opposed the practice and claimed it was “nothing but blatant greed”. The Premier League requires that clubs publish their ticket prices ahead of each season, ultimately preventing dynamic pricing.

NWSL’s Next Franchise

The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) is entering exclusive negotiations with a group from Denver for the league’s next expansion franchise. The fee is expected to be around $105m-$120m, more than double the previous NWSL expansion price and the biggest expansion fee ever paid in US women’s sports.

In the NWSL, and some other US sports, teams are called “franchises,” meaning they are owned by businesses that are part of the league, with exclusive rights to their city. Denver’s NWSL bid group is led by IMA Financial Group CEO Robert Cohen, who is supplying a significant portion of the financing and would be the team’s control owner. Cleveland and Cincinnati were also bidding for a spot in the NWSL.

The value of NWSL teams has exploded in recent years after the sales of Angel City FC at $250m and San Diego Wave at $113m. The average club is now worth $104m, a 57 per cent increase from the prior year. The expansion will take the NWSL up to 16 teams in total.

POLL

ON THE BALL

Europe

> Ruben Amorim urges Marcus Rashford to stay at Manchester United (More) | Retired footballer Joey Barton has been charged with allegations concerning social media posts (More)

> Romanian businessman, Dan Sucu, has acquired a majority stake in Genoa (More) | Head of the Swedish FA, Fredrik Reinfeldt, is being accused of threatening employees to not voice their dissent after he voted in favour of a Saudi Arabia World Cup (More)

> Salzburg have hired Thomas Letsch as head coach to replace Pepijn Lijnders (More) | Marseille have not closed the door on signing Paul Pogba (More) | Cesc Fabregas, Como head coach, has offered Dele Alli the chance to train with his side (More)

Americas

> Marta won the inaugural FIFA award for the best goal in women’s football – named after herself (More) | Trinity Rodman has criticised her father Dennis Rodman, five-time NBA champion (More)

> A record number of U.S. officials have been named to FIFA’s 2025 International Referee Panel (More) | West Michigan Soccer will begin to play professionally in 2027, using the Amway Stadium as its home (More)

Rest of the World

> Kylian Mbappe, Rodrygo and Vini Jr scored in Real Madrid’s 3-0 win over Pachuca in the Intercontinental Cup final (More)

> Reports of assaults on grassroots referees have risen by 32 per cent from 2022-23 (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Yesterday, we asked you: Does the Unify League format address the criticisms of the failed European Super League?

⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 👍 Yes... (6%)

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🚫 Nope... (92%)

⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (write in!)... (2%)

Your punditry takes:

• 🚫 M.G: “It’s another way of sneaking this in the back door and once embedded the cash cow will begin.”

• 🚫 J.P: “Another attempt at elitism. Sheer greed.”

• ✍️ N.T: “Probably not and it will more than likely cause a massive backlash as the Super League plans received. I'm still on the football is for the fans side. Sorry not sorry ”

EXTRA TIME

Which players have played the most football this year?

Adidas release the first-ever Lamine Yamal limited edition boots.

Rating the best football Christmas sweaters.

The tactical differences between Klopp and Slot.

Gibraltar Women have 60 players to choose from ahead of their competitive debut.

Why Wolves’ incoming manager didn’t make friends in his recent jobs. (via X)

Mafia infiltration of football ultras spreads in Italy.

Which football teams survived after being bottom at Christmas?

The best male footballers from 100-41… 

… and the top 100 best female footballers in the world.

GAME FACE ON

Question: Alexander Isak scored his 20th Premier League goal of 2024, just the third time a Newcastle United player has scored 20+ Premier League goals in a calendar year. Who were the other two players?

Clue: Greats.

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

English League Cup, QF

• Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United (20:00)

Conference League

• Chelsea vs Shamrock (20:00)

• Real Betis vs HJK (20:00)

• Full list of fixtures here.

Coppa Italia, last 16

• Inter Milan vs Udinese (20:00)

Primeira Liga

• Nacional vs Benfica (17:00)

*All time in UK. ET -5. CST -6. PST -8. MST -7. CET +1.

Answer

Alan Shearer (twice – 22 in 1999, 27 in 2002) and Andrew Cole (24 in 1994).