A no-holds-barred expose on the financial transactions of the world's favourite sport Football's Secret Trade exposes how investors have taken control of the transfer market away from clubs and how this has impacted every aspect of the sport. Written by two well-known investigative journalists in sports finance, this book reveals how clubs are speculating on the transfer market instead of spending money on academies to develop their own players and how it is the investors, not the clubs, who are benefitting from the market. You'll learn how deals involving stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and James Rodriguez have made a select few even richer, and why the millions of dollars fans spend on replica shirts, pay-per-view subscriptions and match tickets every year is fortifying offshore bank accounts instead of supporting the sport. The global financial crisis sent investor fortunes tumbling, but a few found safe haven in an unexpected place the football transfer market. This book shares the details of how the money moves behind the scenes, how annual player trading began outperforming the FTSE and how FIFA lost control of it all.