Barely a few minutes had passed since Almeria achieved salvation in extremis with a penalty draw by Embarba when the coach, Rubi, announced the resignation of the entire technical staff. Local media claimed that he was leaving due to difficulties with the treatment given with the management of the club, in the hands of Saudi Sheikh Turki Al Sheikh since 2019 for 27 million euros. His words about the "little influence" he had on the signings at the beginning of the season went in that direction. "The objective of this type of capital does not always coincide with sports performance," explains Jorge López, professor of Sports Management at the European University.

LaLiga is not exactly being 'El Dorado' for foreign investment. 30% of First Division clubs have external capital. The management of these has placed them in a very difficult position this year, with three relegated and two saved on the last day. Only Mallorca and Girona have managed to end the year without squeezing. "The problem with many investments is that they do not understand the championship in which they enter," explains López.

Foreign-owned clubs

The first to land in LaLiga was Peter Lim, owner of Valencia. The Singaporean businessman bought the club in October 2014 for 94 million euros after trying to take over Liverpool in 2010. Almost 10 years later, Valencia has hit rock bottom and played the fourth worst campaign in its history. "A club is a special company because it is unpredictable and passionate, the better you do things off the field the better results you will have inside, but it is not an exact science," explains Carlos Cantó, CEO of SPSG Consulting.

Peter Lin in the box of Mestalla in a match of Valencia.Biel Aliño

Since then, entrepreneurs and funds from several countries have arrived to try to do business with investments in various clubs of both LaLiga Santander and SmartBank. In total, 252 million for the purchase of equipment without prejudice to the subsequent investment in other concepts such as purchase of players, improvements in the stadium ... "LaLiga is interesting to invest in because it has a very high possibility of appreciation," says López.

This professor highlights the sports management of Girona, of the same property as Manchester City, "has an interesting model", tells about the structure of the tenth classified of LaLiga. Mallorca, on the other hand, has been an absolute rollercoaster since it was acquired by the American Robert Sarver in 2016 for 21 million euros reaching military in three different categories.

From joy to disappointment

The chain of events is similar in all externally owned entities: initial illusion and disappointment after failure. The CEO of SPSG Consulting speaks of the "disaffection is not due to the nationality of capital but to management", while the professor of the European University speaks of "initial expectations that are not met".

The players of Valladolid after descending to Segunda.R. GARCIAEFE

Valladolid, Espanyol and Elche face a complicated situation because the interesting thing about a football investment, as Cantó says, is "buying in lower categories to be able to go up". These teams, for which 30, 50 and 20 million were paid respectively, face a considerable decrease in revenues and other key factors. "It's not just about money, it's also about positioning, brand image and access to certain markets," says López.

In the press conference after the relegation of Valladolid, the president, Ronaldo Nazario, said that "football was not mathematical" regarding his management and denied the rumors of sale of the club. Rumors, by the way, that plan on all entities with foreign capital when the results are not as expected. That's the difficult business of football.

  • Real Valladolid CF
  • UD Almeria
  • Valencia CF
  • Elche CF
  • RCD Espanyol

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