Delay. Another Delay. More
Delays. The only news of the sale of Milan these days is how much longer it is
going to be before the deal closes. But why is that? After the €100m non-refundable deposit was made, along with
the agreement to close by the end of the year, I thought for sure it would
really happen. Now we face yet another delay, losing out on another mercato. And
the only one profiting from this is Fininvest. A profit of another €100m, to be
exact. So Berlusconi and Galliani stay in power, holding the club hostage, and
they’re getting paid for it, too. Our mercato is going to be strangled by not
just two CEOs now, but three CEOs, two Sporting Directors, and a consortium of
mysterious people who have yet to be identified. Not to mention that no one is
disclosing whether Fininvest will even use any of that cold hard cash to spend
in the mercato in the first place. People keep saying that there is a problem
getting the money out of China to close the deal, but with a second deposit of
€100m, I find that impossible to believe. This deal is being thwarted by the
Great Wall of China.
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| Shrouded in mystery, but endless and uncompromising... just like the Sino Europe Sports deal |
The Great Wall of China
was originally built as a defensive strategy, to protect the Chinese from
attackers. But it later had other purposes, including to help impose taxes and
tariffs on goods coming in and out of China. So I figure the wall must be the
holdup here, because nothing else makes sense. It is preventing the names of
the potential investors to exit China, and must also be blocking the money.
To me, the mystery behind
the members of Sino Europe Sports is the most worrying thing. Who is trying to
buy Milan? Are they a bunch of Super Villains? A bunch of corporate criminals?
Or even worse, a bunch of Interisti who are trying to take down the club? And
why can’t we know who they are? It was suggested that the way the Chinese
market works, with some of the consortium members likely being partially owned
by the Chinese government, announcing their involvement could impact their
stock prices positively or negatively, perhaps with devastating effects if the
deal didn’t go through. But why are they taking the risk in the first place,
then, if it’s such a volatile risk?
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| "Here's a jersey with your name on it. That will be €200m please" |
Most telling is that when
Fininvest finally asked for full disclosure of the investors names last week,
they skirted that issue with cold, hard cash. They literally are willing to pay
another (I assume non-refundable) €100m to keep their identities secret and buy
them more time. Not only is that a massive red flag as to who they might be, it
tells me that they may not entirely exist just yet. Why would anyone trying to
buy a major club to boost their income/image/football power not want people to
know who they are? This is not the Year of the Rat, but I certainly smell one.
People have been star
struck over the money issue for some time now. And reports continue
that getting such a large sum of money past the Great Wall is the current problem
preventing the deal from closing. But I don’t buy that. If they can get €200m
out of China over the course of a few months, including €100m over the course
of less than a week, why can’t they get €470m out over the course of six
months? Unless maybe they don’t have the full amount? Or maybe they don’t have
all of the investors? Because those are far more likely scenarios than the
government not allowing that amount of money to leave. The Suning Group who
bought Inter were able to get €270m out of the country in no time. And in fact,
hundreds of millions have managed to get past the Great Wall of China to
purchase or invest in European football clubs. I simply cannot believe this is
the real problem any more.
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| La Gazzetta dello Sport mapped out just how much Chinese money has made it to Europe for football |
We have discussed Silvio’s
meddling ways. But why would they drop an additional €100m above and
beyond the long-negotiated price if he were the problem with the closing? That
makes no sense at all. The overall ineptitude thus far of the Sino Europe
Group, including missing
out on Maldini, cannot be the problem, either. Because that ineptitude
is still in action. Fassone and Mirabelli are still working independently of
Milan, scouting players that the current organization is not interested in.
Which means we have another transfer window where Fininvest, Berlusconi,
Galliani, Fassone, Mirabelli, and our mystery buyers all have to agree on the
players and prices before we can make any moves one way or the other. And we
saw how well that worked in the summer. Essentially, Sino Europe Sports are now
paying €200m to completely hobble Milan’s transfer window as well as the future
development and success of the club. Which is ridiculous, because Berlusconi
and Galliani were already doing that successfully on their own.
Given all of these facts,
the only thing I can believe now is that the deal is being obstructed by the
actual Great Wall of China. It is a tangible physical barrier that has
protected China for thousands of years. But with the continued failures within
this deal, and even the unknowns should it succeed, the question is who is it
protecting? Is the Wall protecting China from Milan? Or is the Wall protecting
Milan from Sino Europe Sports and China? Certainly the only ones benefitting
from this are Fininvest. €200m richer and still ruining… I mean running… the
club, they are being blessed by the Great Wall of China.
This post inspired by the music of
Jane’s Addiction “Been Caught Stealing”
Our next match is
Roma vs. Milan
Monday, December 12 • 21:00 CET (3pm
EST)