NW football giants facing potential multimillion-pound hit from coronavirus

English Premier League champions Manchester City could be set to lose more than £360m in player transfer values if no further games are played this season due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Current runaway leaders Liverpool could also stand to lose more than £310m in player transfer values.

That is the claim by LearnBonds, a London-based financial publication advising on investment opportunities.

Using Statista data it has forecast the impact on European football should no further matches be fulfilled, after league and cup competitions across the continent were suspended due to the global lockdown.

According to the Deloitte Football Money League 2020 survey, the top 20 European clubs generated combined revenues of £8.18bn in the 2018/19 season, or 11% more compared with the previous season, including a significant contribution from player transfers.

However, with some players’ contracts running out at the end of the season and still no decision about continuing the matches, many transfers will be held up, renegotiated or called off.

LearnBonds claims that, if no further matches are to be played this season and no contracts extended past the end of June, Manchester City stands to lose £362.55m of player transfer value.

It would be the worst hit of any of the top European sides, it is claimed, with FC Barcelona ranked second on this list with a £322.07mm potential loss.

Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Paris St-Germain follow with £310.63m, £307.99m and £265.75m losses, respectively.

Statistics show that in this situation, 10 of the most-affected European football clubs stand to lose more than £2.64bn of their players’ transfer value.

European football leagues could lose a combined total of £3.61bn from empty stadia and unfulfilled games, LearnBonds says.

Earlier this month European football governing body UEFA suspended Europe’s most prestigious competitions, the Champions League and Europa League, with 40 matches remaining. The same decision was made for the Euro 2020 qualifying playoffs, with the finals moved from this Summer to next year.

The English Premier League, the richest across the continent, would be the hardest hit, with a potential total loss of £1.13bn.

More than 60% of that amount, or £703.98m, comes in lost broadcasting revenues.

Lost commercial sales could amount to £263.99m, followed by a £158.4m drop in matchday profit.

Spain’s La Liga is forecast to withstand the second-largest financial hit, losing around £853.57m due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Germany’s Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A and the French Ligue 1 follow with a potential £695.18m, £615.98m, and £351.99m loss, respectively.

As with the English Premier League, broadcasting rights are also expected to cause the biggest financial hit in these leagues.