Will Golovin’s club become the second PSG? Instead of the Russian oligarch, Monaco hopes for sheikhs
Polina Kuimova January 28, 2024, 12:00 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
There are no specific details yet, but the club is definitely looking for a new owner.
Monaco is looking for new owners: Russian Dmitry Rybolovlev has hired advisory firm Raine Group (which also worked on bids for Manchester United and Chelsea) to explore the possibility of selling his majority stake. However, according to the statement, there is no guarantee that this strategic review will ultimately lead to any agreement.
Rybolovlev acquired a 67% stake in the club in 2011 and later promised to invest €100 million in the team. Since then, everything has gone well for Monaco: the Club returned to the elite, was proclaimed champion, won silver twice, reached the finals of the French Cup and League Cup, and even reached the semi-finals of the French League. Champions. Rybolovlev had no plans to sell the club, but a year ago he received two offers from American investors that, according to Les Echos, were impressive. This forced him to think about a possible sale.
However, the agreement can only be finalized if the potential buyer receives the support of Prince Albert II of Monaco, since the principality owns 33% of the club’s shares. The prince, in turn, told Monaco-Matin that Monaco was not going to increase or decrease its participation. Alberto II also said that he had not yet communicated with Rybolovlev, but had spoken with his entourage about a possible change of ownership of the club.
Albert II
Prince of Monaco
“We will surely need several months to properly evaluate the value of the club. If a new shareholder appears, he must have a certain profile: respectable, solid. “We will be very attentive to this.”
So far the names of the interested parties have not been revealed, but one person has already openly announced that he would be interested in investing in the club. A member of the royal family of Saudi Arabia, Prince Abdullah Saad Abdulaziz Al Saud, in an interview with Carré, said that investing in France is a good investment: Marseille and Monaco are showing good results. They can become champions and become stronger. I know “Marseille”. Cissé, Ravanelli played in Marseille… This is a good team. Could Saudi Arabia buy Monaco? Of course it is possible, nothing is impossible.”
Journalist Ben Jacobs wrote that Rybolovlev currently estimates Monaco’s value at around $1 billion, but later the Raine group will have to figure out what the club’s real price is on the market. Considering that Rybolovlev once bought a team for 1 euro, the deal will be beneficial for him in any case.
Dmitri Rybolovlev
Photo: Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS
The most likely option is that Saudi Arabia comes to Monaco. This country is willing to pay for football and also has excellent relations with the principality. Last fall, Albert II paid a visit to Saudi Arabia, during which he met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal. In this case, it will be quite simple to obtain the necessary approval for the sale of Rybolovlev shares. But at the same time, Monaco is unlikely to become the second PSG: the example of the Saudis who came to Newcastle shows that they are not ready for crazy expenses, despite the fact that their pockets are bottomless.
Over the past three years, the Club has been recording losses: in 2020 it was 2 thousand euros, next year already 116 thousand euros, in 2022 – 187 thousand euros. It is clear that in terms of the magnitude of losses from Barcelona itself These are ridiculous figures, but the club is still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic (and therefore has not yet returned to the level of income it had before). Therefore, your finances will definitely not be hampered by investments from wealthy investors interested in development.
One of the authors of the “new Monaco”:
Exclusive
“I suggested Zakharyan to Chelsea.” Interview with the former sports director of Zenit and Loko
