Olé Posted May 25, 2019 Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 Just published in the FT in the last hour - PSG's owners. Quote Qatar is in talks to buy a stake in Leeds United in a deal that would allow the gas-rich Gulf state to enter English football for the first time, according to people with direct knowledge of the negotiations. Qatar Sports Investments, a state-backed group which controls France’s Paris Saint-Germain, has been in talks over a deal with Leeds United and its owner Andrea Radrizzani in recent months, these people said. A person familiar with the talks said Qatar was seeking as much as a controlling stake in Leeds United, which plays in the Championship, the second tier of English professional football, and narrowly missed promotion into the Premier League this season. “Qatar Sports Investments will be entering English Football, and Leeds is the club of their choice,” the person said. “Qatar has been looking into the prospects of entering English Football for the past two years.” However, one person close to Leeds United’s leadership said the English club is holding talks with at least six different potential investors, one of which is QSI. This person added that no firm decision has been made as to which party Mr Radrizzani may opt to sell to, but that the Italian entrepreneur’s preference is to sell a minority stake in the club. Qatar is the world’s richest nation in per capta terms and, like other Gulf states, has been increasingly using sport to project its soft power. The small nation controversially won the bid to host the 2022 football World Cup and has invested tens of billions of dollars in sport. Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, has used its vast wealth to transform Manchester City and Saudi Arabia is investing in sports events as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s bold plans to overhaul the conservative kingdom’s economy. Mr Radrizzani has been considering a sale of at least a minority stake for the past few months, but had awaited the outcome of its bid to achieve promotion to the Premier League. Talks have been restarted after Leeds lost at the end of season playoffs to Derby County earlier this month. The failure meant the club missed out on at least £170m in guaranteed payments from the Premier League’s multibillion pound broadcasting rights. Mr Radrizzani declined to comment. “We always look for opportunities and the UK market is definitely top on the list”, said a spokesman for Qatar Sports Investment. By selling a stake, Mr Radrizzani will be able to reduce the risk of his holdings in the football club he acquired two years ago, having spent close to £100m on his investment to date. Last year, he sold a 10 per cent stake in the club to 49ers Enterprises, the investment arm of the San Francisco 49ers NFL team, which is owned by the York family. In public, Mr Radrizzani has expressed frustration over so-called Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules which means the club must raise revenues to acquire players, saying that these restrictions mean the club will need to sell players before next season. Speaking at the FT Business of Football conference in London on Tuesday, Mr Radrizzani said: “We’ll have to run a difficult summer in terms of the transfer market, but we have a great academy.” A person close to the talks said that any money raised in a stake sale would not go towards acquiring players for Leeds United, as that would be in breach of FFP regulations. Instead, Mr Radrizzani will consider using part of the money to buy another European club, a move that would allow him to adopt a model similar to the owners of Watford and Manchester City, which control a network of clubs around the world, with the sister teams sharing resources and loaning players between each other. The network model makes it easier for football club owners to acquire new talent while satisfying FFP. The system could also suit Paris-Saint Germain, which itself is under investigation by Uefa, European football’s governing body, over alleged breaches of FFP related to its world record signings of superstars such as Neymar and Kylian Mbappé. Genoa FC, an Italian Serie A club that is fighting not to be relegated, is currently up for sale and is considered a potential takeover target for Mr Radrizzani, said one person with direct knowledge of the matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porto Red Posted May 25, 2019 Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 "Gas" and "rich". Two words which dovetail nicely ironically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Maesknoll Red Posted May 25, 2019 Admin Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 19 minutes ago, Olé said: Just published in the FT in the last hour - PSG's owners. But what does it matter, they are governed by the same FFP as the rest of us........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezo Posted May 25, 2019 Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 26 minutes ago, Maesknoll Red said: But what does it matter, they are governed by the same FFP as the rest of us........ Tell that to wolves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bristol Rob Posted May 25, 2019 Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 To be fair, if you were looking for a club outside the Prem to invest in, Leeds are likely to be top of the list. These days, well run, with minimal losses, huge fan base, history and a stadium ready for top flight football. We can only hope that Peter Risdale is involved somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downendcity Posted May 25, 2019 Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 10 minutes ago, Bristol Rob said: To be fair, if you were looking for a club outside the Prem to invest in, Leeds are likely to be top of the list. These days, well run, with minimal losses, huge fan base, history and a stadium ready to be "sold" to Qatar Airlines for £200m! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLRed Posted May 25, 2019 Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 Word is that Leeds don't have a lot of money and won't be able to spend much this summer. One way or another there always seems to be an easy way out for clubs. If they don't get promoted through overspending, they can either sell and lease back their stadium to themselves, or worst case, sell a share portion to a billionaire from abroad looking to waste money and let it bail you out. if only clubs could just be honestly run by proper businessmen looking to achieve long term success in the right way. It's all going to shit and no one is policing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Up The City! Posted May 25, 2019 Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 31 minutes ago, Bristol Rob said: To be fair, if you were looking for a club outside the Prem to invest in, Leeds are likely to be top of the list. These days, well run, with minimal losses, huge fan base, history and a stadium ready for top flight football. We can only hope that Peter Risdale is involved somewhere. Their stadium whilst it has a huge capacity is really out dated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pillred Posted May 25, 2019 Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 25 minutes ago, Up The City! said: Their stadium whilst it has a huge capacity is really out dated. But size matters, (or so were told) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RumRed Posted May 25, 2019 Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 1 hour ago, Up The City! said: Their stadium whilst it has a huge capacity is really out dated. What else matters? You don’t go to football for the crudities. Capacity is King if you can fill it. Not everyone requires a vegan option and a band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezo Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 4 hours ago, RumRed said: What else matters? You don’t go to football for the crudities. Capacity is King if you can fill it. Not everyone requires a vegan option and a band. But that's how clubs make additional revenue. With a almost captive audience your stupid not to find additional ways to extract revenue/provide service to those who want it. Capacity dictates the maximum amount of people you can sell to, then you have to figure out what you can sell to them on top of the ticket. If we sell 21k and a vegan burger and 3 pints/a coffee to each person we will probably make more than if Leeds had 34k and most ate and drank away from the stadium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bristol Rob Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 2 hours ago, Pezo said: If we sell 21k and a vegan burger and 3 pints/a coffee to each person we will probably make more than if Leeds had 34k and most ate and drank away from the stadium. Amy profit would be 'wiped out' on the extra money they could would have to spend on shit-tickets. We would likely be down about 3 quid a head on bogroll if 21k made that their diet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Popodopolous Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 18 hours ago, BOSRed said: Word is that Leeds don't have a lot of money and won't be able to spend much this summer. One way or another there always seems to be an easy way out for clubs. If they don't get promoted through overspending, they can either sell and lease back their stadium to themselves, or worst case, sell a share portion to a billionaire from abroad looking to waste money and let it bail you out. if only clubs could just be honestly run by proper businessmen looking to achieve long term success in the right way. It's all going to shit and no one is policing it. It's a funny one. Maybe the owner not so rich, but outside of parachute payments they had the highest income at this level 2017/18...and rumours it was £45m this season so they must have really pressed hard on the expenditure- I would have thought that in FFP, as opposed to cash flow, they're one of the better placed clubs. £40-45m turnover at this level is very strong, they must have spent big in season just gone...or Radrizzani is rather cautious! 18 hours ago, Pezo said: Tell that to wolves. They were in it, based on the same rules as the rest of us- 3 years, promotion bonuses don't count, things like youth etc- think their 3 year loss after all allowable deductions about £37m so... 17 hours ago, Up The City! said: Their stadium whilst it has a huge capacity is really out dated. Dunno...isn't as modern as some granted, but they have exec boxes, they have concerts, they have hospitality. Plus Conference and Events facilities- which is handly given Leeds the Commercial Hub of Yorkshire, and behind Manchester the second city commercially in the North? Also, a quick search suggests they either have or have a fanzone-. If it was so outdated as you suggest, I think their commercial revenue would be somewhat lower- don't you? Definitely has seen better days and would need some modernisation but I don't think it's a large Saltergate eg- not by any stretch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 17 hours ago, Up The City! said: Their stadium whilst it has a huge capacity is really out dated. It has nothing around it - huge potential to redevelop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downendcity Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 27 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said: It's a funny one. Maybe the owner not so rich, but outside of parachute payments they had the highest income at this level 2017/18...and rumours it was £45m this season so they must have really pressed hard on the expenditure- I would have thought that in FFP, as opposed to cash flow, they're one of the better placed clubs. £40-45m turnover at this level is very strong, they must have spent big in season just gone...or Radrizzani is rather cautious! They were in it, based on the same rules as the rest of us- 3 years, promotion bonuses don't count, things like youth etc- think their 3 year loss after all allowable deductions about £37m so... Dunno...isn't as modern as some granted, but they have exec boxes, they have concerts, they have hospitality. Plus Conference and Events facilities- which is handly given Leeds the Commercial Hub of Yorkshire, and behind Manchester the second city commercially in the North? Also, a quick search suggests they either have or have a fanzone-. If it was so outdated as you suggest, I think their commercial revenue would be somewhat lower- don't you? Definitely has seen better days and would need some modernisation but I don't think it's a large Saltergate eg- not by any stretch! 24 minutes ago, TomF said: It has nothing around it - huge potential to redevelop Redevelopment of the stadium and surroundings to improve commercial income is an area of expenditure excluded from Ffp calculations. A super wealthy new owner would have little problem funding this as Man City's owners have done in and around the Etihad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Popodopolous Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 2 minutes ago, downendcity said: Redevelopment of the stadium and surroundings to improve commercial income is an area of expenditure excluded from Ffp calculations. A super wealthy new owner would have little problem funding this as Man City's owners have done in and around the Etihad. Agreed- would be a sound strategy. Pretty good revenue base at ER anyway, but as with anything, they can always improve on it- development around the ground should do just that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natchfever Posted May 27, 2019 Report Share Posted May 27, 2019 16 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said: It's a funny one. Maybe the owner not so rich, but outside of parachute payments they had the highest income at this level 2017/18...and rumours it was £45m this season so they must have really pressed hard on the expenditure- I would have thought that in FFP, as opposed to cash flow, they're one of the better placed clubs. £40-45m turnover at this level is very strong, they must have spent big in season just gone...or Radrizzani is rather cautious! They were in it, based on the same rules as the rest of us- 3 years, promotion bonuses don't count, things like youth etc- think their 3 year loss after all allowable deductions about £37m so... Dunno...isn't as modern as some granted, but they have exec boxes, they have concerts, they have hospitality. Plus Conference and Events facilities- which is handly given Leeds the Commercial Hub of Yorkshire, and behind Manchester the second city commercially in the North? Also, a quick search suggests they either have or have a fanzone-. If it was so outdated as you suggest, I think their commercial revenue would be somewhat lower- don't you? Definitely has seen better days and would need some modernisation but I don't think it's a large Saltergate eg- not by any stretch! England played there only last year so it can't be that crap bearing in mind all the other options in the north of England. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Popodopolous Posted May 27, 2019 Report Share Posted May 27, 2019 11 minutes ago, Loon plage said: England played there only last year so it can't be that crap bearing in mind all the other options in the north of England. Exactly. Probably not state of the art but certainly good enough. Sure if they went up they would further modernise it too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanatopia Posted May 27, 2019 Report Share Posted May 27, 2019 On 26/05/2019 at 06:00, Bristol Rob said: To be fair, if you were looking for a club outside the Prem to invest in, Leeds are likely to be top of the list. These days, well run, with minimal losses, huge fan base, history and a stadium ready for top flight football. We can only hope that Peter Risdale is involved somewhere. I thought he was at Nuneaton Borough; they are about to go bust after over-extending and so it sounds like his sort of club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 27, 2019 Report Share Posted May 27, 2019 On 26/05/2019 at 17:55, downendcity said: Redevelopment of the stadium and surroundings to improve commercial income is an area of expenditure excluded from Ffp calculations. A super wealthy new owner would have little problem funding this as Man City's owners have done in and around the Etihad. Also think there is some regional development fund money to do stuff around the ground iirc. Given they own the ground again it wouldn’t be a bad investment - financially sound, big crowds. Just need to buy back the training ground... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanterne Rouge Posted May 27, 2019 Report Share Posted May 27, 2019 Newcastle about to become middle east owned as well by the looks of it. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48420387 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 28, 2019 Report Share Posted May 28, 2019 And Bielsa stays Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redrascal2 Posted May 29, 2019 Report Share Posted May 29, 2019 The wealth of our owner is not a problem. The fact he does not seem willing to use to compete for better quality players is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Hunt-Hertz Posted May 29, 2019 Report Share Posted May 29, 2019 On 26/05/2019 at 08:12, Bristol Rob said: Amy profit would be 'wiped out' on the extra money they could would have to spend on shit-tickets. We would likely be down about 3 quid a head on bogroll if 21k made that their diet! Elegantly put. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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