Lille in a mess, but Gerard Lopez, the man who created the crisis, probably made a few bucks along the way by building a model that worked for him but not the club. 💰
Lille aren’t struggling financially because of a structural issue in French football. They are struggling because the owner found a way to profit from player trading while keeping debt loaded onto the team. The profit on players didn’t go to pay down debt. Where did it go?
Really, a lot of this is due to a local of regulatory oversight of football club operations. Many clubs seem now seem to be little more than commodity trading operations.
Speaking of regulators, will UEFA do anything more than a cursory check on whether the new owner of Lille has links to Elliot, the vulture fund that took control of AC Milan, another club whose owner couldn’t repay its high interest loans?
On subject of Lille the transfer of Victor Osimhen to Napoli is intriguing. Reports value deal at €80m (including add ons) but that figure inflated because Napoli sent 4 players to Lille at a significant markup. Where are they now? On loan in Serie C.
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