Following the thrills of the World Cup in June and July, club football has returned with a bang across Europe. With the summer transfer window having closed in recent days, a window that saw clubs spend literal billions to strengthen their squads, it’s a good time to ask which teams are looking like good ‘bets’ for the 26/27 season.
Here’s a closer look at some early results, transfer deals, and market signals to ponder ahead of a big run of fixtures for the continent’s elite operators.
Barcelona Goal Machine Nets Wins for $BAR
First up are La Liga champions Barcelona, who have started their title defence in ominous form: three games, three wins, and 12 goals scored against just two conceded. Considering Barça have lost some key attackers, including Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres, that’s mighty impressive.
In the run-up to their opening game against Elche, which ended in a a 5-0 demolition, the Barcelona Fan Token® ($BAR) went on the move, rising from $0.258 on Aug. 18 to $0.295 on matchday (Aug. 23), a climb of 14.3%. Although its price had fallen to $0.273 by Sept. 3, there are plenty of potential catalysts up ahead.
Barcelona have five games in September, including their first Champions League match of the season at home to Feyenoord (Sept. 9). If they can make a positive start to the campaign, and maintain their position at the La Liga summit, it could nourish a buoyant mood among traders.
As ever, $BAR remains a Fan Token® worth watching.
Manchester City Break the Bank as $CITY Responds
Manchester City are in a period of transition, and the club’s owners have had no hesitation about extracting their check book in the wake of Pep Guardiola’s departure. Not once but twice have City paid over £100M for new blood, in the form of midfielders Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernandez. In fact, their total transfer spend has totalled £458M.
What does all this mean for the Manchester City Fan Token® ($CITY), though? Well, quite a lot as it happens: its value climbed 4.4% intraday when Fernandez’s signing was confirmed on Sept. 1; and Anderson’s earlier arrival pumped trade volumes by 53%.
Currently priced at $0.365, $CITY has traded in a relatively tight range in recent months although there are plenty of major games coming up that could light a fire under the token. None more important than a UCL tie away to Porto (Sept. 8) and a Manchester derby away to their fiercest rivals (Sept. 13).
Can new signings Fernandez, Iliman Ndiaye, and Ayyoub Bouaddi hit the ground running and maintain City’s strong form? Expect traders to react if so.
Is $AFC Undervalued as Crunch Games Loom?
Premier League champions Arsenal are on a roll right now, having taken City apart in the Community Shield (Aug. 16) and followed it up with league victories over Coventry City (Aug. 21) and Aston Villa (Aug. 31). The Gunners have also added depth to their squad in the form of Bruno Guimarães (£75M), Ezri Konsa (£55M) and others.
Despite being many people’s pick to retain the league title, and having fallen just short in the UCL last season, the value of the Arsenal Fan Token® ($AFC) has fallen considerably since the north London club won the Premier League in May. At the time of writing it has a spot price of $0.165, having dropped 4% since a week ago.
Major victories can quickly turn the tide, though, and Arsenal have some massive games on the horizon. First, this Sunday (Sept. 6), they host rivals Chelsea who are in a rich vein of form. Then they open their UCL account away to Napoli (Sept. 9) before facing three consecutive away games in the league and cup.
All of which is to say that $AFC looks extremely undervalued at this juncture, and if on-pitch momentum rolls into the SportFi markets, it’s one of the tokens most likely to take off.
AS Roma Return to UCL After Positive Serie A Start
AS Roma are about to return to the Champions League for the first time in seven years, having been drawn against Fenerbahçe (away), Real Madrid (home), PSG (away), Sporting Club (home), Manchester United (away), Lille (home), AEK Athens (away), and Slovan Bratislava (home).
The Giallorossi have made an awesome start to the 26/27 season, recording back-to-back 4-0 wins over Fiorentina and Lecce; they top of Serie A on goal difference and host Atalanta this Saturday (Sept. 5). As for the UCL, they travel to Istanbul to face Fenerbahçe (Sept. 10).
It’s fair to say anticipation for Serie A’s return primed the AS Roma Fan Token® ($ASR) for a serious rally: it climbed from $0.824 on Aug. 18 to $0.96 by Aug. 22 (+16.5%), two days before the opener against Fiorentina. Although 7.1% of those gains had been shedded by the time of writing, $ASR remains a popular hold: it’s the 7th ranked Fan Token® by market cap which sits at $7.86M.
If Roma maintain their strong domestic form and combine it with a statement win against Fenerbahçe on their return to elite European competition, the $ASR bulls may be kicked into motion.
Atlético Retain Alvarez as Simeone Masterminds Title Push
Under the stewardship of manager Diego Simeone, Atlético Madrid have twice broken the ‘El Clásico’ duopoly in Spanish football, winning La Liga in 2013/14 and 2020/21. Simeone would dearly love to do it again, and after deep runs in the UCL and Copa del Rey last season, who would rule it out?
The biggest story of Atlético Madrid’s transfer window concerned Julián Alvarez and whether he would move to Barcelona or Arsenal. He didn’t; and the saga bled into the Fan Token® market, with $ATM trade volumes climbing 600% as the transfer deadline loomed.
When the window slammed shut and it became apparent the striker was staying in Madrid, the value of the Atlético Madrid Fan Token® ($ATM) paradoxically fell 23%, before regaining 28%.
On the pitch, Atlético have won two and drawn one of their opening three league matches. Later this month, they host Real Madrid (Sept. 20) and before that, they’ve got a trip to Liverpool in the Champions League (Sept. 9).
$ATM was as high as $1.98 on Aug. 13. Less than a month later, it’s just $1.19. But with Alvarez retained, and some huge games coming up, it’s not inconceivable it could climb back towards $2 off the strength of positive results.
Closing Thought
Of course, it’s not about how you start. How you finish is what really matters. And, just as importantly for the market, how it looks like you might finish. Narratives inform sentiment, sentiment inspires action, and action moves the needle.
We’ve been here before. This is the game that moves as you play. Plan accordingly, and we’ll see you in the next update.
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