The Fédération Française de Football (FFF), France’s governing football body, this week made the peculiar decision to include Gael Kakuta in their U19 squad for next week’s Limoges Tournament.  You’ll recall the FFF were instrumental in getting Kakuta banned for four months by FIFA as...

It’s fair to say that up until last week it was inconceivable to think that a club would splash out ₤80m on a single player. Smashing Kaka’s short lived world record transfer by more than ₤20m, the Ronaldo saga proves that in football, anything is possible. It will take a numbe of seasons...

Not in a Ligue of their own This year’s Ligue Un title is one of the most exciting in recent memory. Why? Because two clubs are vying for the championship and surprisingly, neither of them is Olympique Lyonnais. For the first time in 8 seasons a team other than Lyon will be crowned champions of France....

A precipitous fall from grace There once was a time, not too long ago, when Petr Cech was considered the best goalkeeper in the world -  the irreplaceable ingredient to Chelsea’s success. But then things went a bit pear shaped. Poor positioning. Sloppy mistakes. A growing uncertainty with high...

Life of the euro riche "Thanks Man City, but I'm doing fine in Milan" One year ago Footy Factor received this confidential email from an anonymous source. At first glance the data is hard to digest. Upon further investigation, truths about player salaries become crystal clear. - Kaka’s...

Summer of player exchanges With the current global economy suffering its worst decline in recent memory, this might just be the summer when football clubs look to player exchanges as a way of improving their squads without huge financial outlay. Player trades are widespread in the US sporting community...