Chateauroux (AFP)

Will La Berrichonne pass under the Saudi flag?

The Châteauroux club, the red lantern of Ligue 2, gave the green light to "continue negotiations" with a view to its acquisition by a new investor, he announced Wednesday.

"Meeting today, the general assembly of SASP Berrichonne Football unanimously voted on the proposal of the board of directors to continue exclusive negotiations for the sale of the club's shares to the UNITED Group", writes the club in a communicated.

Contacted by AFP, the club did not wish to confirm whether the "UNITED Group" mentioned was indeed the United World group of Saudi prince Abdullah bin Mosaad, owner of four other football clubs in the world including Sheffield United and whose name was cited by the regional daily La Nouvelle République.

The 55-year-old Saudi invested part of his fortune in 2013 in the English club, which rose to the Premier League in 2019.

- Satellite clubs -

Around the "Blades", now red lanterns after a successful season last year, Abdullah bin Mosaad has created United World, a network of clubs of different levels and skills, like the City Football Group.

Around its flagship Manchester City, the Emirati group has for its part created a constellation of satellite clubs, including New York City FC (MLS), Girona (Spain), Melbourne City (Australia), Yokohama Marinos (Japan), but again, more recently, in September, Troyes (Ligue 2).

The idea is to create synergies between the clubs, in marketing, the search for sponsors or even training, but above all to allow satellite clubs to serve as a reservoir and incubator of talent.

Following the Emirati example, Abdullah bin Mosaad, whose personal fortune is estimated at 200 million euros, thus took a majority stake in the Belgian club Beerschot in 2018. He added Kerala United FC (D2 Indian) and Al-Hilal United (Emirati D2) in Dubai in 2020.

Long engaged in the paper industry, the prince switched to the sport about ten years ago and recently explained to Egyptian television that he planned to acquire "between six and eight clubs" in total through the world.

In great difficulty on the ground and beaten by Clermont (1-0) Tuesday night, the Indre club is currently in last place in Ligue 2. Coach Nicolas Usaï was sacked in mid-December, his deputy Olivier Saragaglia taking care of the interim.

© 2020 AFP