Private credit targets English football clubs with squad-value loans backed by future transfer proceeds

Private-credit lenders are increasingly targeting English football clubs with loans calculated against the estimated value of their playing squads, introducing a form of asset-backed finance that relies partly on future player transfers rather than existing receivables.

The structures can provide clubs with immediate liquidity before players are sold, allowing them to finance transfers or meet other cash requirements without waiting for proceeds from the next transfer window.

According to new reporting by the Financial Times, specialist financiers including Tifosy and Fasanara Capital have pioneered the model across European football, with lending equivalent to approximately 25% of a club’s estimated squad value.

The approach has already been used in markets including Italy, Spain and Portugal, while lenders are increasingly seeking opportunities in England. Specialist sports financier 23 Capital has also returned to the market with squad-value lending among its offerings.

Unlike conventional receivables finance, which advances funding against an established payment obligation, squad-value lending can depend on assets that have not yet been sold.

A club may borrow against the estimated transfer value of its players even though no buyer has been identified and no transfer agreement exists. The lender’s repayment prospects therefore depend partly on future market demand, player valuations and the club’s ability to complete sales.

Security arrangements can extend beyond future transfer income. Law firm Farrer & Co has previously explained that squad-linked facilities may involve charges over wider club assets or accounts designated to receive transfer proceeds.

Those distinctions are significant because a player’s estimated market value is not itself an enforceable receivable. Only when a transfer creates contractual payment obligations does an identifiable transfer-fee receivable arise.

Tifosy says its sports-credit platform has invested more than €400m across European asset-backed sporting opportunities, demonstrating the wider scale of specialist capital entering the sector.

The financing also creates potential risks for clubs. A decline in player valuations, an unsuccessful transfer window or relegation could weaken repayment capacity, particularly where borrowing has funded current expenditure against anticipated future sales.

Lenders cannot simply force clubs to sell individual players, but contractual rights over proceeds and wider collateral may affect financial flexibility.

The growing interest illustrates how private credit is moving into less conventional forms of future-flow finance, where underwriting increasingly depends on estimated asset values and cash flows that have yet to become contractual payment obligations.