Beware those bearing gifts

After a quiet dinner at the royal theatre, they went for a walk. Around the royal palace, along by the senate building and then across the road. An abandoned building stood at the end of the square.

For almost a decade, the impressive 25-storey landmark had stood there, boarded up, the days of it being a symbol of a new Spain long forgotten. When the dictator General Franco approved the plans to build the monolith, he was convinced it could be the start of something, something that would leapfrog Spain into the 20th century.

That was in 1953 but after the turn of the millennium, it was closed down and the owners were looking to find a buyer, even if it meant making a loss. All seemed doomed until Wang Jianlin set eyes on the building last March when he walked along Madrid with his dinner party. He bought it and the Chinese billionaire hasn’t stopped investing there. This week he announced that he was taking a 20% stake in Atletico Madrid. So who is he?

Wang Jianlin had been dining with local politicians and a few important Spanish business people in March 2014 when they convinced him to take a look at the Edificio Espana, in Madrid’s Plaza de Espana. It is said that Wang made an offer on first seeing the building and the owners, Banco Santander, were quick to make the sale.

Also at the dinner was Atletico President Enrique Cerezo. Los Rojiblanco’s debts have been well publicised and the club have long been rumoured to be seeking investors. Peter Lim, now at Valencia, was tempted, so too were a number of American investors but the fact that neither Cerezo nor majority shareholder Miguel Angel Gil Marin wanted to sell a controlling stake of the club seemed to put off potential suitors.

But, while Cerezo can be foolish at times, he is also a businessman and he saw an opportunity with Wang. Talks went on for months but this week it was finally announced that a 20% share of the club had been sold to Wang's company, the Dalian Wanda Group.

Whilst this may be the first major Chinese football investment in Spain, it is not Wanda’s first involvement in football – they have sponsorship deals in the Chinese League and with various clubs and paid €45m for a stake in Atleti. Gil Marin and Cerezo were quick to announce that they would see none of the money and that it would go straight into the club’s coffers. It was also announced that Atletico would open football schools in China and maybe tour the country in the future. On paper it looks like a major coup for Atletico.

Apart from his new investments in Spain, Wang, through the Dalian Wanda Group, has money in apartments, five-star hotels, cinema screens, department stores, and karaoke centres throughout China. Wanda is the world’s second largest holder of commercial land.  He also has investments in London and by purchasing AMC Entertainment a few years ago, Wanda became the world’s largest cinema chain. They are also planning on building a Hollywood-style movie studio by 2018. So it is fair to say that Wang has a bob or two. But still people are cautious.

When it comes to foreign investment in Spanish football there are two names that always pop up. Ahsan Ali Syed, former owner of Racing Santander, and Abdullah ben Nasser Al Thani of Malaga. Both serve as two very important warnings to fans of clubs that are looking for a sugar daddy.

Racing Santander almost dropped from the face of the earth but hard work from supporters has seen them survive, barely. Malaga are having a great season but it’s no thanks to Al Thani. He invested heavily when he first arrived but then he pulled out of the club suddenly, leaving it in a very tricky situation. He still pops up now and then, sometimes making ridiculous statements but the survival of Malaga has nothing to do with him.

It should be pointed out that La Liga do not have a ‘fit and proper’ person’s test for those wanting to buy clubs. Had they had something similar in place to that in England, Ahsan Ali Syed would have been blocked from taking over a club but as events at Leeds United have shown, this test is not always reliable.

One of the most infamous tales of foreign investment in La Liga was that of Getafe. In the end, despite what their President continues to say, they were the victims of fraud and became the laughing stock of the League. But, Getafe do sum up the problems that many Spanish clubs are suffering and also the lengths that some are going to for new investors. With Spanish millionaires reluctant, clubs are being forced to look elsewhere. Whilst in England this has been the case for many years, Spain has always been different.

Clubs, before 1992, belonged to their fans and symbolically during the Franco regime, voting for a club’s President was one of the few democratic processes that existed. While Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao and only a few others still have this system, the majority of clubs have become Sports Limited Companies, or SADs. This is one of the reasons why many older fans are dismayed as clubs are being sold off in chunks to owners who know little or nothing about the club’s history.

At Valencia, Lim has hit the ground running but so too did Al Thani and look how that turned out. One thing in Lim’s favour is the fact that he didn’t rush in and that he has surrounded himself with those who know the game. So far it is working.

A decade ago foreign ownership of a Spanish club almost seemed impossible but with mounting debts and the taxman coming down on clubs to finally pay what is owed, money is needed and the clubs are almost prepared to take it from anywhere. With this in mind, Lim and Wang may just be the tip of the iceberg.

La Liga - Club News