The transfer fees football clubs pay to sign players now top 4 billion a year, but much of the money has been flowing out of the game. A small group of wealthy investors including Russian oligarchs, English racehorse owners and a one-time billionaire gold miner have seized the opportunity to enter this booming market. Some have moved in on the territory of banks and lent money to clubs in exchange for a share in fees generated by Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and dozens more of today's stars. Others have acquired obscure teams to get a piece of the pie. Between them, they have amassed hundreds of millions of euros in profits.


Football's Secret Trade follows the money along a trail very few know about, from nondescript offices in the UK and ramshackle stadiums of South American clubs you have probably never heard of to offshore bank accounts in the Caribbean.


Warning you won't see a major transfer deal in the same light again.