A battle for talent among Europe’s top football teams is igniting a debt market using the players’ transfer fees as collateral. With spending on players smashing $5 billion this summer, this business model is becoming so big it’s moving beyond niche financiers to start drawing the largest names in the world of private lending. “Certainly it’s an area we’re involved in, we think is interesting — we think it represents compelling risk reward,” said Tristram Leach, head of Europe credit at Apollo, in a Bloomberg Radio interview.

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