Manchester United and Other Football Projects with Billionaire Investors

Manchester United is one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world. However, the poor results in the Premier League, the few figures it has had in the Champions League and the absence of a consolidated sports project after the departure of Sir Alex Fergusson, have led to the relationship between the owners and the fans having deteriorated. fractured. This is why the alternative of an administrative change can be appealing to all parties.

The arrival of investment conglomerates to soccer teams has been full of nuances, for clubs with little sports figuration it has been positive in most cases, while for historical teams or teams with a good sporting performance, the opposite has happened, even suffering category demotions.

Manchester City, from beggar to millionaire

At the end of the 20th century, the 'Citizens' wandered in the English third division, with a deep economic and sporting crisis on their backs. The return to the Premier League of the sky-blue team took three seasons, but despite its promotion, it did not go beyond mid-table or only participated to save the category. In 2008, all this changed when the Abu Dhabi United Group acquired the team for €250 million.

Since the arrival of the Emiratis and thanks to a strong economic investment, the Manchester team won six Premier Leagues, three FA Cups, six League Cups and three Community Shields, being one of the dominators of English soccer in recent years and an entertainer permanent Champions League, of which they were runners-up in the 2020/2021 edition.

RB Leipzig, from an amateur club to a leading team in the Bundesliga

With barely 13 years of history, Red Bull Leipzig began its sports transfer from the German fifth division, in seven years it achieved four promotions that allowed it to reach the first division in 2016. All this, thanks to a successful sports process and a strong investment by the Austrian company Red Bull, owner of the team. Despite their few years in professionalism, they won a German Cup in the 2021/2022 season, and they have been a semifinalist in the Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.

Málaga CF, from being a candidate for the best club in 2013, to fighting for not being relegated to the third division

In 2010, the Qatari family, headed by Sheikh Abdullah ben Nasser Al Thani, acquired the Spanish team. A year after his arrival, the 'Blue and Whites' achieved fourth place in the League and were able to access the Champions League for the first time. The 2012/2013 season was the most important in its history, managing to advance to the quarterfinals of the competition, finishing sixth in the local tournament and being nominated as the best club of the season.

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Despite what was achieved in those seasons, the team was penalized for breaching financial fair play, which prevented it from continuing to invest in transfers, nor being able to participate in international tournaments. The Malaga team could not recover from that situation and in the 2017/2018 season it collapsed sportingly and financially, it was relegated to the second division and, currently, it is fighting not to be relegated to the third division.

AS Saint-Étienne, from being the most winning team in France to wandering in the second division

The most historic team in France, winner of ten leagues and seven cups, lived a period of decline since the beginning of the 80's and that increased at the beginning of the 21st century. To recover the historic past of the team, the Algerian Bernard Caïazzo, magnate of the sports communication and marketing industries, became president. Upon arrival, 'Les Verts' returned to the first division and consolidated their positions in European tournaments, thanks to the good sporting process led by Christophe Galtier, current PSG coach and who was in charge of Saint-Étienne from 2009 to 2017.

Despite the stability of the sporting process, they barely won a Cup title and could not maintain the sporting pulse proposed by teams like Olympique de Marseille, PSG and their archrival Olympique de Lyon. Since 2019, the team has been in crisis and the top shareholders (Roland Romeyer and Bernard Caïazzo) put it up for sale. However, no bidders appear, which exacerbates the crisis and in the 2021/2022 season it returns to the second division. Today, he wanders in the lower middle of the table and far from the promotion spots.

Beyond the economic investment, a sports process must be comprehensive, where the communion between investors and fans is high and where interests that favor institutional welfare are defended, these factors are what will determine the success or failure of any soccer project.