1/23
A group of investors, which is largely influenced by a Saudi sovereign wealth fund under the control of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, paid the equivalent of around 350 million euros to acquire Newcastle United.
2/23
It is “a farce that a person who is involved in war crimes or crimes against humanity could buy into the top division of England,” criticized human rights activist Felix Jakens of Amnesty International.
3/23
We look at the owners of clubs in English football and their fortunes.
4/23
20th place: Delia Smith and Michael Wynn-Jones (approx. $ 30 million), Norwich City – Smith is a celebrity chef, her husband Wynn-Jones is a writer and publisher. Both were season ticket holders before the takeover and bought the club in difficult times.
5/23
19th place: Mike Garlick (approx. $ 100 million), Burnley FC – Garlick is the founder of the consulting company Michael Bailey Associates and has earned a nice penny in this role. Little appears in public.
6/23
18th place: Maxim Demin (approx. $ 110 million), AFC Bournemouth – Made a fortune doing oil chemicals and bought Bournemouth for less than a million pounds in 2011. In 2015 he sold 25 percent of the club to an investment firm.
7/23
17th place: Gino Pozzo (approx. 120 million dollars), Watford FC – Pozzo is the son of Giampaolo Pozzo, owner of Udinese Calcio and ex-owner of FC Granada. Pozzo is heavily involved in transfer decisions etc.
8/23
16th place: Abdullah bin Musa’ad (approx. 255 million dollars), Sheffield United – Abdullah is a Saudi prince who also held posts in the Saudi government. He is considered a big sports fan and also owns football clubs in Belgium and Dubai.
9/23
15th place: David Sullivan (approx. 1.6 billion dollars), West Ham United – Sullivan got rich as a sex shop owner and porn producer, and was already a millionaire at the age of 25. Owned Birmingham City for 16 years prior to purchasing West Ham.
10/23
14th place: Tony Bloom (approx. $ 1.7 billion), Brighton & Hove Albion – Bloom was a professional poker player and got rich from owning poker websites, among other things. His nickname: The Lizard.
11/23
13th place: Farhard Moshiri (approx. 2 billion dollars), Everton FC – The Briton is a partner in various steel and energy companies. Moshiri took over the majority of the shares in Everton FC in 2016. He lives in Monaco.
12/23
12th place: Fenway Sports Group (approx. $ 2.7 billion), Liverpool FC – FSG is a sports investment company. In addition to Liverpool FC, the group also includes the Boston Red Sox from the MLB. John W. Henry (center) is considered to be the head of FSG.
13/23
11. Joshua Harris et al. (approximately $ 3.9 billion), Crystal Palace – Harris founded Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm. He owns the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils and is a shareholder in Crystal Palace.
14/23
10 .: Gao Jisheng (approx. 4 billion dollars), AFC Southampton – Only took over the majority stake in the club in 2017. Jisheng is a Chinese investor, including in women’s football. Was involved in a bribery scandal in China in 2011.
15/23
9th: The Glazer family (approx. $ 4.9 billion), Manchester United – Malcolm Glazer took over the majority stake in 2015 under very controversial circumstances, also because he transferred debts to the club. Glazer died in 2014.
16/23
8 .: Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha (approx. $ 5.9 billion), Leicester City – The son of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha inherited the club after his death in a helicopter crash. He got rich from King Power, a Thai duty-free chain.
17/23
7th: Joe Lewis (approx. 6.2 billion dollars), Tottenham Hotspur – Lewis made a fortune primarily in the foreign exchange market and even moved to the Bahamas for it. Has come under heavy criticism due to cuts at Tottenham in the wake of the corona crisis.
18/23
6 .: Guo Guongchang (approx. 6.7 billion dollars), Wolverhampton Wanderers – Guongchang is the founder of the Chinese investment company Fosun International and is one of the richest Chinese in the world.
19/23
5th: Nassef Sawiris (approx. 9.2 billion dollars), Aston Villa – Sawiris is part of one of the richest families in Egypt and has worked for various large companies, including adidas. The Egyptian is the fourth richest African in the world, according to Forbes.
20/23
4th: Stan Kroenke (approx. 10.6 billion dollars), Arsenal FC – Kroenke is owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, a company that, in addition to Arsenal FC, also owns the Los Angeles Rams, the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche and the Colorado Rapids owns.
21/23
3rd: Roman Abramowitsch (approx. $ 14.1 billion), Chelsea FC – Made most of his fortune in the oil and gas sector. Abramovich was also politically active in Russia and appears as a generous philanthropist. He owns an entire armada of yachts.
22/23
2nd: Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan (approx. 23.5 billion dollars), Manchester City – member of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi and member of the current cabinet of the UAE. Bought the Citizens in 2008 with its Abu Dhabi United Group.
23/23
1 .: Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (approx. 400 billion dollars), Newcastle United – The fund was founded to polish up the state’s image. The chairman is the controversial Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
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Paul Pogba: “Problem not yet found”
At the center of the criticism is coach Solskjaer, who has so far not given his team a recognizable concept. If you own the ball, the current plan is: Any one of the numerous brilliant offensive players will somehow fix it. With Ronaldo, Greenwood, Marcus Rashford, Edinson Cavani, Anthony Martial, Jadon Sancho, Jesse Lingard and Bruno Fernandes, United has nominally one of the best attack lines in the world.
“We have to find the mentality and the tactics to win,” said Paul Pogba after the game. “We haven’t found the problem yet. We have to become more mature, have to play with more experience and a positive arrogance.” According to Pogba, the “stupid goals conceded” that United conceded on a regular basis were also problematic.
Youri Tielemans’ 1-0, for example, was preceded by a nasty mistake by captain Harry Maguire, whom Solskjaer had ordered straight into the starting line-up after recovering from a calf injury. United played zero for the first time in the entire season.
Manchester Uniteds Defensivprobleme
The defensive problems run through the whole team and start with Ronaldo. As is well known, active pressing is not one of his favorite tasks, so the number of pressing situations at United has decreased significantly compared to the previous season. According to the statistics portal FBRef.com in the Premier League on average from 133 to 120 per game (meanwhile it rose at his ex-club Juventus Turin). Ronaldo’s score of 3.9 is one of the worst on the team. “Your central players didn’t press, so we were able to pass the ball patiently,” said Leicester coach Brendan Rodgers.
Meanwhile, Solskjaer is still looking for an ideal line-up in midfield. During the season he tried seven different combinations with moderate success in his preferred 4-2-3-1 system. Against Leicester, Nemanja Matic started alongside the disappointing Pogba. “We were played too easily,” complained Solskjaer. “It wasn’t just about Nemanja and Paul, it had to do with the whole team. We have to be more compact and more aggressive.”
Manchester United have a tough program ahead of them
The team must implement these requirements in the coming weeks against significantly better opponents than last. Until the next international break, there will be twice in the Champions League against Atalanta Bergamo and in the Premier League against FC Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City.
“We’re good at showing character when it counts. When we had our backs to the wall, these guys always fought,” said Solskjaer, whose contract runs until 2024. In fact, in the course of his two and a half years in office, he was close to being fired several times before he and his team started an amazing series of successes.
During the international break, soccer director John Murtough expressed his confidence in Solskjaer: “Ole and his staff are very focused. We have a long-term plan and trust that we are moving in the right direction. We believe that we have the necessary talent and have the characters necessary to be successful. ” So the existing talents and characters just have to be formed into a functioning team.
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