Our thoughts are with the country and people of Ukraine, hoping a peaceful end is near
On Today’s Agenda:
Mbappe Rejects Real Madrid and Stays with PSG
Chelsea FC: Accepting The Todd Boehly Era
The Simple Week of Niko
I’m Coming Staying Home
Mbappe Rejects Real Madrid and Stays with PSG
By Caleb Gilligan
Last week, if you asked ten football fans where they thought Kylian Mbappe would play next season, nine would probably say Real Madrid, with the one person being a hopeful PSG fan. However, that lone PSG fan got his wish as France’s most prominent star shocked the football world. On Monday, Mbappe signed a massive, three-year contract with PSG to remain with the club for at least another season.
After acquiring stars Lionel Messi, Gianluigi Donnaruma, Achraf Hakimi, and Sergio Ramos, the expectations for the 2021-22 season were sky-high for PSG. Although they won Ligue 1 by a comfortable 15 points ahead of Marseille, they failed to make deep runs in both their cup competitions. PSG was eliminated by Real Madrid in the Champions League Round of 16 after winning the first leg 1-0 and was beaten in penalties in the Coupe Nationale by runners-up Nice. Furthermore, the stars they acquired in the previous transfer window did not live up to expectations. Donnaruma and Messi both had a solid season but supporters expected more from them, while Ramos missed the majority of the season with a calf injury. However, the bosses at PSG did enough to convince Mbappe to sign a new contract to remain with the club.
However, it’s not just any contract that Mbappe signed, it’s the most valuable contract in football history. According to the reliable Spanish news outlet Marca, Mbappe’s new contract is worth over 400 million euros. With an incredible 100 million euro signing bonus, Mbappe will earn 50 million euros per season for the next three years. To put things into perspective, Lionel Messi’s contract with PSG is worth 30 million euros for the next two seasons with PSG. Not to mention, Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract with Manchester United is also worth around 29 million euros per season. Although Mbappe is over ten years younger than both Messi and Ronaldo, nobody in football has been able to secure a contract with similar financials to the two men who’ve dominated football over the last two decades. Though it doesn’t end there for PSG. They must also pay Mbappe’s former club, AS Monaco, for a clause that states they earn an additional 35 million euros if Mbappe signs another contract with PSG, on top of the 180 million paid in 2018.
Although Real Madrid’s interest in Mbappe was the worst-kept secret in world football, many supporters believed that the deal for the Frenchman to come to Spain was already completed. To make it worse for Madrid fans, reports earlier in the year even stated that the club was set to acquire both Mbappe from PSG and Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund. After Manchester City ramped up efforts to sign Dortmund’s star, Madrid focused their efforts on Mbappe, only to be rejected at the last minute. The President of LaLiga went as far as releasing a statement which says Mbappe’s new contract “attacks the economic stability of European football,” which is ironic given the billions of euros of debt that prominent Spanish clubs find themselves in.
However, things are not so bad for the Spanish champions, Real Madrid, as they are looking to win their 14th Champions League trophy when they take on Liverpool this Saturday.
New Beginnings For Chelsea
Chelsea FC: Accepting The Todd Boehly Era
By AJ Hewish
The Roman Abramovich era of Chelsea FC is finally over after almost 2 decades since the Russian billionaire purchased the Blues in 2003 for £140 million. 5 Premier League titles, 5 FA Cup titles, 3 EFL Cup titles, 2 Community Shields, 2 UEFA Champions Leagues, 2 UEFA Europa Leagues, 1 Super Cup, and 1 Club World Cup, totalling 21 trophies in 19 years. Now, it's time for a new era for London’s biggest club.
Earlier this week, the UK government announced its approval of Todd Boehly’s £4.25 billion takeover of the Blues. The deal had been in the negotiation phase for several months after issues with previous Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich hit the news earlier this year.
Todd Boehly, an American businessman, investor, and sports fan is set to become the controlling owner of Chelsea FC alongside Clearlake Captial who will assume the majority of Chelsea shares. Additionally, the new ownership group is set to invest £1.75 billion into the club directly for future operations.
Boehly is also a part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Sparks, Draft Kings, Cloud9 Esports, and, most recently, a 27% ownership in the Los Angeles Lakers. It’s safe to say that the new owners of Chelsea already have a diverse sports portfolio, adding one of the top teams in the world to their group.
According to reports, Boehly has already given Thomas Tuchel a £200 million rebuild budget for all incoming transfers, most notably the Blues likely to sign French CB Jules Kounde from Sevilla.
The future for Chelsea is extremely exciting with hundreds of millions to bring in new players, old players departing the club, and potentially some major American partnerships with the Sparks, Dodgers, Cloud9, and/or Lakers to bring Chelsea FC to the American market.
Politics aside, Chelsea are set to continue their immense success from last year’s Champions League title, with some top players coming to Great Britain’s capital in the next coming years.
The Simple Week of Niko
From the CPL to the MLS, and a Royal Performance to Cap it Off
By Hiral Patel
Some of the best stories in sports are the ones that are told the least. The comebacks, the Davids vs. the Goliaths, and even the nice guy who finishes first. Last week, Canadian soccer fans got to follow along the journey of goalkeeper Niko Giantsopoulos - in a series of events no one saw coming.
Let’s start in Victoria, BC, where Niko’s York United FC took on Pacific FC in a regular season CPL match. A simple match for the keeper, stopping 3 shots to help secure a 0-0 draw for his squad. Less than 24 hours later, Canadian Soccer twitter broke with reports that Niko had been signed to a short-term agreement with the Vancouver Whitecaps to join the squad for their match against Charlotte FC… over on the east coast in North Carolina on Sunday (May 22). The Whitecaps were battling injuries to both their goalkeepers and were able to secure Niko’s services through the MLS “Extreme Hardship” eligibility.
Turnaround time for Niko was short, as he saved the best for last - a quarterfinal showdown against a familiar foe in the Canadian Championship. After flying across the continent to back-up the Whitecaps, Niko flew back to Victoria to take on Pacific FC. And Niko made a statement performance. With a thrilling back-and-forth match needing penalties to determine a winner, Niko came up big with two saves to seal the deal:
Niko’s week taught us a lot of things in a short period of time. One being the greater role the CPL is playing in the North American soccer landscape. Similar to how we saw the NBA rely on the CEBL for short term roster needs, the talent of the CPL is recognized and viewed as an asset - the connection can only grow from here. The most important lesson for sports marketers and athletes here however, is the power of a moment. Niko regularly makes appearances on TSN Radio and is involved in a ton of York United’s content pieces - he’s established a foundation for his brand. Sometimes all it takes to go to the next level for an athlete’s brand is simply doing a job on the field. Here’s to Niko, the week that was, and here’s to keeping it simple.
Keep your eyes peeled, maybe something else relating to Niko will be shared next week…