Five players who will boss Football Index Media Dividends in 2020/21
In July, it was announced that the pay out for Football Index media dividends would be increasing. It wasn’t the big news to come out of the update from Adam Cole. It certainly shouldn’t be sniffed at though. With that in mind, we look at five players who should hog headlines over the 2020/21 season.
Number 5. Harry Kane, £6.22
Jose Mourinho has control of the reigns at Tottenham now and given his main man will be Harry Kane, it’s a safe assumption that he’ll get a few headlines whether he’s playing well or not. Look at last year, after Mourinho arrived in November, Kane netted a more than respectable 14 goals in 19 appearances. Still, the paper talk was of Kane not being able to perform in a Mourinho team. In total, he featured in the media pay outs on 27 occasions after the managerial change. Based on his current share price of £6.22, that gave him a yield of 14.6%.
‘The Special One’ does – despite popular opinion – usually have a striker that finds the net. Kane certainly will. The fact he’s England’s talisman with a European Championship lying in wait just fuels an already sizzling hot prospect. The same can be said for Spurs’ Amazon documentary release and a crowded early season schedule of Europa League football.
Number 4. Lionel Messi, £4.89
It might seem a bit ‘sucking eggs’ to include a player like Lionel Messi, who has just been named as one of football’s top earners, in a Football Index tips list but let us explain our reasoning. With Barcelona on the back of a barren season, which culminated in an embarrassing Champions League exit at the hands of Bayern Munich, they have an uncertain future ahead.
Quique Setien was sacked, former player Ronald Koeman has arrived and Director of Football Eric Abidal has left the club. Messi has hardly been hush hush about the state of the club. His contract is up next summer too so transfer rumours have been circulating heavily already. Throw into the mix that he is arguably the greatest player of all time and you’ve got the potential for a whole host of media wins. He certainly had his fair share last season as he raked in £1.12 per share for the 12 months from 1st August 2019.
Number 3. Neymar, £9.45
On the global stage, there are few players who command a headline like Neymar. His media yield of 8.5% during the 2019/20 campaign might be on the low side compared to the other players we’ve listed but expect that to hike next season. Why? Well, at the moment media wins are based on predominantly British outlets but everything is pointing to this changing. When the scope of media analysis is broadened, Neymar will be a shoo-in for more wins.
Then you look at the whole picture surrounding Neymar. Yes, we’re not putting a focus on PB wins but a better balance of fixtures landing on non-gold days help to feed media bonuses, particularly when Neymar is capable of producing sublime pieces of magic that get people talking.
Number 2. Bruno Fernandes, £10.17
Fernandes’ price has boomed since his January arrival at Old Trafford. Don’t expect the growth to stop either because he’ll be reeling in his fair share of Football Index media dividends during the season. Manchester United are the most talked about club in the world and, if the second half of last season was anything to go by, Fernandes is their main man.
Yes, he’ll perform well on the performance buzz front too, particularly as he’s United’s penalty taker, but that will help feed his media news too. When the Euro’s roll around in 10 months time, expect him to grab a few mentions as well – even if a certain CR7 might overshadow him on occasion. If you look at his return since joining United then you’d be looking at 14% returns just on the media front. That excludes the hype around his transfer too.
Number 1. Jadon Sancho, £14.71
During the 2019/20 season, Sancho returned more media dividends, in cash terms, than anybody else. We’ve just mentioned that Man United are the most talked about team around the globe. Well, Sancho is their number one transfer target. If a deal gets done this window then you’ll get a windfall of media wins. That will likely be followed with a fairly regular top up during the season.
The other possibility is that a deal doesn’t get done. That’s the latest message from Michael Zorc at Borussia Dortmund. That will mean the rumours of a move will remain until the winter window – probably into next summer too – and other powerhouse clubs will join the hunt. Real Madrid, Barcelona and Liverpool have all been mentioned as possible destinations. He’ll be raking you in dividend wins all season long. Oh, and he’ll be donning the Three Lions at Euro 2021.
There you have it, an overview of five players who should score highly on the Football Index media dividends front during the looming campaign.