UDINE. Gino Pozzo is continuing to weave the web with the American fund “890 Fifth Avenue Partners” keeping in first place the desire of his father Gianpaolo, who does not want to leave Udinese even after 37 years of solitary management of the black and white club.
This is not the time for signatures, at least those for the (partial) sale of the family clubs, Udinese and also Watford: the negotiation, as we wrote five months ago on these pages, is well underway, but not yet concluded .
It is a complex project in the context of a deal that involves several realities, not just Friuli and Hertfordshire, given that Gino Pozzo has realized that a third pole in Spain would be useful for his football model, a pole which has been missing from the “galaxy” since the sale of Granada to the Chinese of Desports in 2016, even if a technical collaboration with Valladolid was already started in the following two years, which then gradually faded away, thanks to the surprising results of the team that plays in the Spanish Liga , where for Pozzo junior’s sporting interests a lower category reality would be more useful.
That is why, through his trusted emissary on Spanish soil, the former scouting manager of Real Madrid, Rafa Monfort, has signed agreements with Sabadell, the third club in order of importance from Barcelona, now in the Spanish third division, which should become part of the portfolio of “890 Fifth Avenue Partners” making use of the sports choices of Gino Pozzo who needs a basis to grow those players, often very young, who are not at the level of Serie A or the English leagues, now the Championship (series B), in the future maybe the rich Premier League again.
As can be seen, the project that is taking shape includes Udinese and Watford in which the “890 Fifth Avenue Partners” fund is pushing to enter.
There are two knots to untie before a signing: Gianpaolo Pozzo would not want to deprive himself of the majority stake in the Juventus club which has been valued at around 200 million euros, whereas the Americans would like an Atalanta-style solution, given that in Bergamo the tycoon Stephen Pagliuca has purchased 55% of the company, where the Percassi family still acted as guarantor, a role that the Pozzos would like to play in Udinese in turn.
For Watford, on the other hand, there is still a 10% valuation problem which would appeal to the fund, considering that a promotion to the Premier League (possible but far from obvious given the situation in the standings) would increase the value of the “good ” by virtue of the rich TV contract from which all the teams registered in the top English championship benefit, not just the big ones.
This is why the closing will not take place until June 30, when the sports season will end. —
© breaking latest news