O bilionário Joseph DaGrosa, que breve poderá ser um dos donos do América, em foto da www.cbssports.com/soccer/Getty Images
Hoje o América soltou um comunicado oficial falando sobre as negociações em curso para se tornar empresa e se associar a um grande grupo internacional. Certamente por causa das notícias que estão circulando a respeito, inclusive com o nome do provável futuro parceiro:
“O América Futebol Clube, em seu processo de possibilidade de criação do Clube-empresa, manteve conversas com diversos potenciais interessados.
Para tanto, o Clube firmou termos de confidencialidade e sigilo (NDA’s) sobre as tratativas em curso.
Em respeito a estes instrumentos jurídicos e a bem do sucesso da almejada transação, a Diretoria e Conselhos do América Futebol Clube não irão comentar quaisquer especulações da imprensa.
Quando tiver finalização do processo, caso haja a conclusão de qualquer negociação, observados os trâmites de aprovações internas do América, será convocada uma entrevista coletiva com a presença das partes envolvidas: o presidente do Conselho de Administração, Alencar da Silveira Junior, e o coordenador de futebol Clube-empresa, Marcus Salum.”
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Em junho o portal da Rede CBS noticiou sobre o interesse do bilionário Joseph DaGrosa’s, em entrar no futebol brasileiro. Não falava o nome do América, mas, até onde se sabe, o único clube da capital mineira que está negociando com ele é o Coelho.
* “Kapital Football Group near ‘top-flight’ Brazilian acquisition as part of ‘development and trading’ push”
Jun 3, 2021 at 9:33 am ET
Joseph DaGrosa’s American group closing on Belgian and Portuguese targets too
A few months ago, Joseph DaGrosa outlined to CBS Sports his plans to recreate a multi-club City Football Group-style outfit with an “anchor club” in either the Premier League or La Liga with a selection of satellite clubs backed up by prolific academies in different continents.
However, KFG is now changing tack after talks over a potential acquisition of “by far our number one target” Southampton went cold, and the group is closing on “prominent” clubs in Belgium, Brazil, and Portugal with six academies across South America and Africa.
“We put a lot of time and effort into understanding [Southampton’s] business and financial approach,” said DaGrosa of the Saints interest. “As the saying goes, time kills all deals. We had a different view to the seller and concluded it best to move on.
“We were in negotiations with various clubs, but the deal has to make sense for our investors at the end of the day and whether or not we are buying at the right valuation. Unfortunately, the price at which we were offered to buy did not align with our strategy and financial expectations. We want to have a healthy and strong club to optimize and grow. This strategy will be more profitable and in less time.”
DaGrosa has been looking to get back into the European game since his exit from Girondins de Bordeaux in Ligue 1 and KFG’s preference was the Premier League and La Liga with Newcastle United also linked with the group earlier this year.
However, after assessing various other England and Spain-based opportunities, KFG concluded that “producing the best players in the world that will command top dollar” is a better route for them to emulate CFG with the idea of feeding competitions like Major League Soccer with talent instead of buying there.
“These three clubs from Brazil, Portugal and Belgium are essentially going to replace the anchor club,” said DaGrosa. “Brazil and Portugal are top-flight while Belgium is second tier with top-tier pedigree and our idea is to get them back to the first division.
“We are planning for two years to get them back to the top division and we are pretty confident we can make that happen with our talent pool coming from the academies. We are in a position to move a number of players into Belgium that will make it really first class.”
According to CBS Sports’ sources, although DaGrosa would not confirm the identity of the three clubs, the Brazilian outfit is believed to be based in Belo Horizonte while the Belgian club is in the Brussels region with Portugal set to follow shortly — letters of intent to buy all three professional clubs have already been signed.
As for the academies, Uruguay, Colombia, and Bolivia have been identified in South America while Senegal, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso have been chosen in Africa with letters of intent for four of the six academies already signed and the remaining ones expected to follow in a matter of weeks as KFG “create a player development platform that can become a dominant force in the international player transfer market.”
On top of those changes, Francisco Lopez has now joined as senior partner of KFG after his time as Business Director with CFG while DaGrosa’s partner Hugo Varela is now CEO — he also leads the charge on the player development and trading side.
You can follow the fortunes of KFG’s new team in the Brasileirao via CBS Sports/Paramount+’s exclusive American coverage as they seek to uncover the next exciting Brazilian talent with a view to bringing them to Europe — the home of the UEFA Champions League.
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A Rádio Itatiaia entrou no assunto em seu portal, hoje, com mais detalhes:
* “O América caminha a passos largos para se transformar em um clube-empresa. Será criada uma empresa, junto a investidores, para gerir e injetar dinheiro no futebol. Conforme fontes internas do Coelho, a ideia é subir o clube de prateleira, em termos de investimentos, no futebol nacional, com melhoria do desempenho esportivo.
Recentemente, preparou investimentos em clubes da Espanha e Inglaterra. Contato foi feito com o Southampton, tradicional equipe inglesa.
Há um termo de confidencialidade assinado entre as partes, conforme apurou a reportagem da Itatiaia, o que impede qualquer posição oficial, no momento. Caso a negociação avance, o tema será levado, ainda, ao Conselho do América.
O processo de transição do América para empresa, conduzido por Marcus Salum, está em estudo há bastante tempo, antes mesmo da sanção, no Brasil, da Lei do Clube-Empresa, que facilita a transformação de clubes em Sociedades Anônimas de Futebol (SAF).
O América, contudo, não “venderá” o clube, a exemplo de clubes como o Bragantino. Assim, não há possibilidade de serem alterados uniforme e escudos, por exemplo, já que a empresa a ser criada e o investidor serão responsáveis apenas por investimentos e a gestão do futebol.”
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