While some European clubs take a break over the Christmas period, Valencia could be facing some sort of revolution.
It was announced last week that Singapore-based billionaire Peter Lim could be interested in buying the cash-strapped Spanish club for around $700m. And it was only a few days ago that Valencia have also announced that former San Lorenzo boss Juan Antonio Pizzi was to take the vacant managerial post succeeding Miroslav Djukic.
Pizzi has been a success in San Lorenzo as he has guided San Lorenzo to the Torneo Inicial in Argentina’s Premier Division (they have two champions in Argentina). Pizzi also played for Valencia in the 1993-94 season so he has experience of how the club operates too. Ultimately, Pizzi’s appointment looks set to be a good one.
However, he has a challenge on his hands with Valencia just five points off relegation and thirteen points away from the Champions League spots; the latter is a more familiar position for the club from Spain’s third largest city.
Yet due to the global economic crisis, Valencia is one of the many clubs that face dire straits financially speaking. The club is mired in debt, around $375m to be precise. Bankia are desperate to sell the club and have told Valencia to scale back their ambitions.
They are a club that used to have many star talents such as David Villa, David Silva and Juan Mata but those days are long gone. They also have a half-built stadium that has not seen progress on it since 2009 right next to the current and out-dated Mestalla stadium.
If Jeremy Lim were to takeover Valencia then this would be a huge takeover for the club. Bankia, the Spanish bank that are authorising the takeover, are waiting a few weeks and have given a deadline of January 15 for the takeover to take place.
This would allow sixteen days of spending that could see Valencia challenge for a European spot (probably not the Champions League judging by their current position). Lim has apparently said that he would like to invest somewhere between 30 and 50 million euros in new players in order to make Valencia competitive. Many players are rumoured to be heading towards Valencia, including Fernando Torres, Javier Hernandez and Olivier Giroud.
Lim has also promised that if the deal were to go through that he would wipe the debt from the club and would invest around 130 to 175 million euros in completing the Nou Mestalla stadium.
Yet a word of warning should be heeded by all those involved with Valencia CF. This is not the first time Lim has flirted with purchasing a football club; he has previously sought to buy Liverpool and Glasgow Rangers to no avail. In other words, just because he has declared his intention to buy the club does not mean he will do so.
Furthermore, Spanish clubs are a relatively unattractive proposition and it would be very difficult to compete against Barcelona and Real Madrid. And even if there was investment in Valencia, it does not guarantee financial security. Qatari investor, Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani, has been a poor owner of Malaga CF as seen with his poor financial dealings which has lead the club to being expelled from European competition for a season.
Although, there are only a few things that can be safely said and one of those things is that nothing is guaranteed at this stage. Jeremy Lim could be a good owner just like the ones at Manchester City or he could be a bad owner just like the example mentioned in the previous paragraph. Heck, he might not even buy Valencia out, and that would be unfortunate. However, one thing is definitely for certain and that is Valencia is worth keeping a track of over the next couple of weeks.
Thanks for reading! You can follow me on twitter – @BrodSutherland. Give the site a follow while you’re at it – @LastWordOnSport. Don’t forget to take a quick moment and like our Facebook Page!
Feel free to discuss this and other footy related articles with thousands of fans at r/football.
Interested in writing for LastWordOnSports? Find more info at our “Join Our Team” page.
