CONI President Giovanni Malagò has predicted that Dan Friedkin’s proposed business with Roma will not be a “short-term investment” and compared the situation to the one at Inter.
The Friedkin Group are reportedly finalising a handover with James Pallotta in the Italian capital and could become the next foreign investor to arrive in Italy.
Fiorentina were bought by the American tycoon Rocco Commisso and the Suning Group have made their mark on Inter.
CONI President Giovanni Malagò has predicted that Dan Friedkin’s proposed business with Roma will not be a “short-term investment” and compared the situation to the one at Inter.
The Friedkin Group are reportedly finalising a handover with James Pallotta in the Italian capital and could become the next foreign investor to arrive in Italy.
Fiorentina were bought by the American tycoon Rocco Commisso and the Suning Group have made their mark on Inter.
CONI President Malagò has claimed it’s only natural that Italian football clubs have become interesting for foreign businessmen.
“How many big Italian entrepreneurs are there? You struggle to count all the fingers on one hand,” Malagò told Corriere dello Sport. “If you look around the world, you find that hundreds of billionaires are born every year.
“It’s normal that they find the idea of acquiring an Italian sports brand intriguing. Because those brands are worth a lot.
“They are perhaps worth more than real estate, more than a beautiful painting. It also offers personal gratification, or rather an opportunity to involve a child in the business activity. Maybe it’s an opportunity to return to the origins of a family that perhaps comes from this country.”
Dan Friedkin is currently in the process of taking over Roma and Malagò believes it could be fruitful for the Giallorossi and compares it to Steven Zhang at Inter and the Elliot Group at Milan.
“I don’t know Friedkin and I deny the people who are saying I knew him,” he added. “I have been in touch with him and his son, through mutual friends.
“I think it’s his son’s strong passion and his wife’s artistic interests that entice him. If it goes through, I don’t think it will be a short-term investment.
“Those who buy because they are involved in a private equity fund have a more speculative type of culture than an entrepreneur. But then, maybe things will be a bit different and Zhang will leave Inter before the Elliot fund. But in most cases, the business activity is a warranty.”