“Key ECB interest rates will remain at present or lower levels for an extended period of time,” Mario Draghi, ECB president, reaffirming the 0.5% European bank rate on 1 August 2013.

Ever since the financial crisis first struck, central banks across Europe and beyond have been locked in an arm wrestle with the invisible hand of Adam Smith’s markets. There has been much talk of a zero interest rate policy, of “increased liquidity” and of government-sponsored schemes such as Funding For Lending in the UK. But the fact is small- to medium-sized businesses, a sector including most European football clubs, are finding it harder than ever before to access the capital they need to invest in their businesses.

For some clubs this has not been too much of a problem. As revenues have increased over the course of the past five years the lucky ones, like Arsenal for instance, have even been able to reduce their indebtedness [see: http://www.insideworldfootball.com/matt-scott/13109-matt-scott-why-arsenal-s-cash-mountain-may-remain-just-that]. Rampant global interest in English and Champions League football has been of supreme benefit to the haves, whose media incomes have rocketed. But what of the have-nots who are trying to keep up?

A clue lies in a report sponsored by the European Clubs Association, which was released with little fanfare this month. The study, entitled Project TPO, was conducted by the accountant KPMG, and it points to increasing creativity in the way clubs seek the funding that will plug the gaps in their incomes and maintain their competitiveness.

TPO stands for Third-Party Ownership, by which clubs sell a portion of the future value of a player’s transfer fees, most often to a fund of anonymous, offshore investors, in return for cash up front. The KPMG report published an interesting heatmap that shows where the activity is most prevalent.

Third-Party Ownership Heatmap

Source: KPMG, Project TPO

Across Europe it is estimated that between one in 27 and one in almost 17.5 players belongs at least in some part to a third-party owner. Once the territories where the practice is banned are excluded, that proportion rises to between one in 20 and one in almost 12 players.

In some territories, though, there is a higher instance of the practice than elsewhere. KPMG found: “TPO is a common practice in Portugal, and the value of the players under TPO practice is between approximately 27% and 36% of the market value of the players in the Portuguese league.”

A glance at the accounts for the two-times European champions FC Porto proves this.

FC Porto third-party ownership