Joao Felix & Antoine Griezmann: Meet the lender behind the some of football's biggest transfers

A few steps from London's West End, and just a couple of miles from the capital's financial district, is a company helping football's elite seal some of the world's biggest transfers.

Joao Felix moved from Benfica in Portugal to Spain's Atletico Madrid as the world's second-most expensive teenager, thanks to a loan processed in trendy Fitzrovia.

Less than a fortnight after making that £113m deal a reality last July, 23 Capital were helping Barcelona meet Atletico's £107m buyout clause for Antoine Griezmann.

"It was a strong summer for us, we were involved in some of the biggest and best moves," chief executive and co-founder Jason Traub told BBC Sport.

"We call ourselves a capital and solutions company for sport, music and entertainment - a sports bank, for lack of a better term.

"We help affect deals but we are not changing the way deals are done, or whether they do or don't ultimately happen. But we are certainly helping."

Traub, who spent 13 years with Investec Bank, and partner Stephen Duval, an Australian who previously worked with the Olympic Games and sports management company IMG, have made an impact.

Last summer's window saw a record £5bn spent across Europe's top five leagues, and they were involved in two of the biggest moves.

Atletico broke their transfer record for Felix just two years after moving into their £220m Metropolitano home.

Going to a lending company was an alternative way to fund his arrival without having to raise money by offloading French World Cup-winning forward Griezmann first.