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# Squad-Value Loans: Private Credit Targets English Football Clubs
- URL: https://www.footballbusinessnews.com/squad-value-loans-private-credit-targets-english-football-clubs/
- Published: 2026-10-19T12:03:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-19T12:03:00.000Z
- Description: Private credit funds are pitching English clubs loans sized against squad value, as the football regulator warns 94% of clubs are losing money.
- Author: Football Business News
- Tags: Finance, Regulation

## FinanceBorrowing Against Players Not Yet Sold: Private Credit's Next Bet on English Football 

Private credit funds want to lend English clubs money against players they have not sold yet. The pitch arrives in the same week the Independent Football Regulator reported that 94% of clubs in the top five tiers are losing money, and that the system already carries £3.4 billion of net transfer debt. 

The [Financial Times reported on 15 October](https://www.ft.com/content/122eb13c-54a6-4fb5-8bb1-b0755a053502?ref=footballbusinessnews.com)that talks over so-called squad-value financing are picking up between English clubs and specialist lenders. The loans are sized against the estimated market value of a club's registered players. According to the [Private Equity Wire summary](https://www.privateequitywire.co.uk/private-credit-lenders-target-english-clubs-with-squad-backed-loans/?ref=footballbusinessnews.com), a lender cannot force a club to sell a player, but if a sale happens it has priority over part of the fee. 

London sports lender 23 Capital, which wound down when Covid hit its loan repayments in 2020, has reportedly relaunched with this product at its core. Tifosy and Fasanara Capital have already written similar loans across Europe, typically at around a quarter of squad value, for clubs in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and Belgium. In England, Burnley is one of the few clubs named as having used loans sized partly against player valuations, alongside security over a wider pool of assets. 

![Turf Moor, home of Burnley FC](REPLACE_WITH_IMAGE_URL) 

Burnley's Turf Moor. The club's lender charges cover all of its property, including the stadium lease. Image: [Credit](#) 

## Why this is not ordinary transfer finance

English clubs have borrowed against transfers for years. That market, known as factoring, advances cash against fees a buying club has already agreed to pay in instalments. The collateral is a signed contract with another club. 

Squad-value lending goes one step further back. The main source of repayment is a sale that has not happened, at a price nobody has agreed, to a buyer nobody has found. Football finance analyst Paul Quinn, in a [detailed paper on The Esk](https://theesk.org/2026/10/16/the-analysis-series-squad-value-financing-in-football-private-credit-unsold-players-and-the-return-of-mark-to-model-lending/?ref=footballbusinessnews.com), describes the product as short-tenor private credit, usually six to 24 months, sized against a modelled value but secured in practice on the whole club. The typical use case is simple: sign players in January, repay from summer sales. 

**The lenders** Tifosy and Fasanara run a joint sports lending fund. A relaunched 23 Capital now joins them, with Apollo, Ares and MSD active in wider club lending. 

**The collateral** Squad values come from models and benchmarks such as Transfermarkt and CIES. There is no traded price until a player is actually sold. 

**The cost** No English deal has disclosed its pricing. Comparable football facilities have been reported at roughly 8% to 16% a year. 

## The regulator's numbers explain the demand

The timing is not a coincidence. The IFR's first [State of the Game report](https://sotg.footballregulator.org.uk/?ref=footballbusinessnews.com), published on 13 October, found English clubs owed £4.8 billion in transfer instalments in 2025/26 while expecting only £1.5 billion in return. [Insider Sport's breakdown](https://insidersport.com/2026/10/14/english-football-financial-regulator-r/?ref=footballbusinessnews.com)of the report shows up to four Premier League clubs are technically insolvent, and 29% of clubs say they could not survive 30 days if owner funding stopped. 

Clubs in that position need cash before the next window, not after it. Banks lend to the strongest clubs. Fasanara's own pitch is that it serves the clubs banks will not touch, and those clubs pay more for the privilege. On Quinn's reading of the report, transfer factoring alone has grown from £55 million in 2020/21 to £779 million in 2024/25\. 

**The wrong-way risk** 

In most secured lending, the collateral holds its value when the borrower struggles. Here it moves the other way. Relegation, a bad run of form or an injury to a key player all cut squad value at the exact moment the club needs to sell. A loan written at 25% of squad value can look far riskier within a single season, with no fraud or mismanagement involved. 

## Where the rules fall short

Three gaps stand out. First, the cash is a loan, not revenue, so it does nothing for compliance with the Premier League's new Squad Cost Ratio. It only buys time to make the player sales that would. 

Second, the Premier League's liquidity test under its new sustainability rules credits clubs with 40% of squad market value as a liquid asset. A club that has already pledged part of those future sale proceeds to a lender could, unless the final rule text deducts encumbered value, see the same players counted twice. 

Third, structures tied to the future transfer of named players come close to FIFA's ban on third-party ownership, a risk [law firm Farrer & Co](https://www.farrer.co.uk/news-and-insights/the-money-game-debt-financing-in-football/?ref=footballbusinessnews.com)flagged when the product first appeared in Europe. Lending to a company is generally outside the FCA's perimeter, and the IFR's full licensing regime does not arrive until May 2030\. 

## What it means for owners and lenders

For a well-run club with a credible sales plan, squad-value debt can be a useful bridge. A £40 million facility at 11% for a year costs about £4.4 million in interest before fees. That is manageable if a planned sale lands. It becomes expensive term debt if the window fails. 

Burnley's [Companies House charges register](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00054222/charges?ref=footballbusinessnews.com)shows how quickly security over core assets passes along a chain of specialist lenders. The IFR's report is a consultation draft open until 8 December. Whether it asks clubs to disclose what they have pledged against their squads will decide how far this market grows before the regulator can see it. 

**Sources:**Financial Times (15 October 2026); Private Equity Wire; The Esk, Paul Quinn, "Squad-value financing in football" (16 October 2026); Independent Football Regulator, State of the Game draft report (13 October 2026); Insider Sport; Farrer & Co; Companies House.