Paris (AFP)

Buyout of Toulouse on Monday, appetites displayed for Marseille ... Wealthy businessmen and foreign investment funds choose to bet on French clubs, attracted by a price "cheaper than elsewhere" in European football, rising TV rights and recognized training.

From Qatar Sport Investments (Paris SG) to King Street (Bordeaux) via Nenking (Sochaux / Ligue 2), redemption logics espouse various ambitions ranging from geopolitics to economic objectives. But they have a common origin.

In France, where investors will benefit from "the 60% increase in TV rights" for the period 2020-2024, "the entry ticket is cheaper than elsewhere", notes Luc Arrondel, an economist at the CNRS. In addition, "French clubs are renowned for their quality training", which gives rise to "hopes for + trading + players", he explains to AFP.

Compared to the Premier League giants in particular, Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 clubs appear to be more accessible purchases, with fairly high prospects for resale.

"That's a lot of money for a French club, but in England, it's rather modest," admitted Jim Ratcliffe, the first English fortune and boss of the petrochemical group Ineos, about the 100 million euros put on the table to buy Nice in 2019.

- "Expectations of surplus value" -

In Marseille, Frank McCourt did not come to enjoy the charms of the Mediterranean either. In October 2016, the Boston businessman seized a golden opportunity: a major European brand for around EUR 45 million.

Since then, he has had to write off 78 million in debt and has invested around 220 million in the club, back in the Champions League after several contrasting seasons. And this summer, McCourt again guaranteed to the DNCG, financial policeman of French football, that he was filling the deficits, which should amount to a hundred million euros.

The recent rumors of a takeover, denied by the management, nevertheless revived speculations on the motivations of the American.

Regardless of the Marseille example, the explosion of television rights in Europe has caught the eye of investment funds.

"The clubs are more and more valued, there are hopes of added value on future resale", supports Luc Arrondel, co-author of "L'Argent du football" (2018, editions of Cepremap).

For the economist, this is a new trend in an environment where there was "no profit, or very little" because of transfer fees and pharaonic salaries of players.

- Mistrust of supporters -

The explosion of TV rights has changed the situation and attracted new players. Even if the sporting project takes a back seat, some supporters fear.

In Bordeaux, the Ultramarines thus predicted "an announced disaster" before M6 sold the club in 2018 to the American investment funds King Street and GACP, a minority shareholder.

Since then, the Girondins have laid off many historic employees or sold young talents to make up the deficit.

At the end of 2019, the cold and austere King Street ousted the spendthrift GACP, without stabilizing a deficit club, weighed down by a 12th place in Ligue 1 and undermined by a conflict between the supporters and President Frédéric Longuépée. And coach Paulo Sousa did not hide his desires elsewhere ...

In Sochaux, in Ligue 2, sporting disappointments and economic problems have also accumulated since Peugeot, the historic owner, sold the club for EUR 7 million in 2015 to Chinese businessman Li Wing Sang.

The leader of the Tech Pro Technology group wanted to develop and promote his brand in Europe, a failed gamble. The supporters shouted at him, the finances were in the red and the club narrowly escaped administrative demotion.

In debt, he had to sell in 2019 to the Chinese group Nenking. "The FCSM training center is one of the best in France and we can help interact with all the opportunities that exist in China," said Frankie Yau, number 2 of Nenking, in the Republican East.

In Auxerre, under the Chinese flag since 2016, the initial ambitions were similar: "to bring up" the club in L1 and "to bring back the know-how of the training of the AJA to help young Chinese in the practice of football", explained James Zhou during an interview with France Bleu Auxerre after the inauguration of an Academy in Shanghai. For now, the AJA is preparing to return to L2, for the ninth season in a row ...

cor-eba-fjt-rap-jta / jed / av

© 2020 AFP