{"id":2861,"date":"2024-10-12T07:28:59","date_gmt":"2024-10-12T07:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/betwealthsuretips.com\/blog\/ex-milan-leonardo-harsh-on-american-funds-running-a-football-club-is-not-like-selling-chocolate\/"},"modified":"2024-10-12T07:28:59","modified_gmt":"2024-10-12T07:28:59","slug":"ex-milan-leonardo-harsh-on-american-funds-running-a-football-club-is-not-like-selling-chocolate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/betwealthsuretips.com\/blog\/ex-milan-leonardo-harsh-on-american-funds-running-a-football-club-is-not-like-selling-chocolate\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Milan Leonardo harsh on American funds: ‘Running a football club is not like selling chocolate’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MILAN, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 03: Gerry Cardinale of AC Milan looks on before the Serie A match between AC Milan and FC Internazionale at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on September 03, 2022 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Former Milan coach and sporting director Leonardo was critical of the way American funds run football clubs as he believes the management they put in charge is not \u2018top level\u2019.<\/p>\n

A growing number of funds from the USA are buying clubs in Europe, with Italy\u2019s Serie A having proved an attractive target for them in recent years, but Leonardo pointed out some issues related to how they manage such businesses, which are often considered the \u2018cheaper\u2019 investments.<\/p>\n

The Brazilian also blamed American funds for relying on executives with no experience in football, underlining that running a club is something \u2018very specific\u2019 and not \u2018like selling chocolate\u2019.<\/p>\n

Leonardo slams American funds\u2019 management: \u2018Not top level\u2019<\/h2>\n

\u201cThere are two problems, I think, I don\u2019t want to enter any specific thing because I\u2019m not technical about business, but we can see that the American funds, not only the Americans but a lot of them are investing in Europe,\u201d Leonardo said during an event organised by La Gazzetta dello Sport, called Festival dello Sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey invest in Europe for two things. Because football is important, but football in Europe for them is cheaper than in the USA.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, if you consider your investment the cheaper one of your group, I think the kind of management you can put in, perhaps is not the top level you have. We can see a lot of American funds investing in football but not putting the top-level management, and not even football management.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, if you don\u2019t know football, if you don\u2019t know the context, the city you arrive in, the culture, the tradition and even the history of a club, it\u2019s not easy to manage, to interact, to make people believe in your project.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leonardo went on to make a comparison with his experience at PSG, where he worked as a sporting director between 2011 and 2013 and witnessed the club owner\u2019s intention to build \u2018something strong\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth is that I worked for Paris Saint-Germain,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey started in 2011 and in 13 years they constructed a club, a brand, a sports centre, they want to do a stadium, not just to speculate and sell the club, but to create something strong to remain there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the same period of 13 years, Milan for example had four owners. It\u2019s very complicated to do a project with four owners in 13 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to be polemic but the president of the fund is not the owner of the club. The owners are the investors.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you have someone in the middle to manage a club, which he never did before. A club of football is not like selling chocolate, you have 25 guys, one coach, the supporters, the press, it\u2019s very specific.\u201d<\/p>\n

Milan, Inter and Atalanta are among the Serie A teams which are currently under American ownership. An investor from the USA was also recently linked with the purchase of a minority stake of Monza, while Genoa owner 777 Partners was declared bankruptcy.<\/p>\n