Man United and Liverpool players hatch £19m plan as investment confirmed with football legends
Manchester United duo Diogo Dalot and Mason Mount have become investors in a multi-million pound six-a-side football start-up company.
Launched in Germany in 2023, Baller League is aiming to make its debut on British shores by the end of March, with famous YouTuber KSI named as president of the UK operation, with another prominent social media presence, IShowSpeed, president of the US operation.
Football legends such as Ronaldinho and Luis Figo are also attached to the project, as is Liverpool striker Diogo Jota, who has become an investor alongside Dalot and Mount.
The plan is for Baller League UK will take place every Monday until May 19 on indoor football pitches with 12 teams competing. The top four teams in the league will qualify for the play-offs to decide a champion.
Trials are scheduled to take place in London and Manchester, with recently retired professionals, futsal players, free agents and released academy players among those eligible to play.
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Each match will be live streamed, with YouTuber Chunkz hosting a weekly show, with the enormous social media presence of the likes of KSI, who has 24.8m followers on YouTube, core to appealing to a new demographic, latching on to the huge success that has seen charity matches featuring social media stars The Sidemen selling out major UK stadiums.
The investment from Dalot, Mount, Jota and others has come via Portugal-based investment firm Apex as part of an overall investment of €23m (£19.3m). A prior funding round conducted by the competition in 2024 generated £6.4m in investment.
Dalot, via MailSport, commented: “As a professional football player, I'm always looking for new ways to connect with the game I love.
“Baller League offers a fresh perspective, combining football with exciting entertainment. It’s a great opportunity to explore a new side of the sport.”
The likes of Gary Lineker and John Terry have been lined up as managers, while
Micah Richards, Alan Shearer, Freddie Ljungberg, Jens Lehmann and Robert Pires have also been signed up as coaches, according to BBC Sport.
