After abandoning Paul Baccaglini’s takeover bid, Palermo President Maurizio Zamparini confirmed he’s back in talks with Frank Cascio.
The troubled Sicilians will be in Serie B this season following relegation, but who will be at the helm remains unclear.
This week, Zamparini pulled the plug on Baccaglini and his associates, who had struck a deal in February, as the necessary funds for the closing did not come through.
After abandoning Paul Baccaglini’s takeover bid, Palermo President Maurizio Zamparini confirmed he’s back in talks with Frank Cascio.
The troubled Sicilians will be in Serie B this season following relegation, but who will be at the helm remains unclear.
This week, Zamparini pulled the plug on Baccaglini and his associates, who had struck a deal in February, as the necessary funds for the closing did not come through.
A few days later, Zamparini and the Palermo offices found themselves raided by the Italian financial police force.
“I was really upset when I read that Palermo would go bankrupt without fresh funds. I definitely did not say that,” Zamparini informed Forza Palermo.
“The club is fine. It’s also not true that I don’t care about Palermo, otherwise I wouldn’t be here working to ensure its future.
“We have three groups for the sale: the Cascio group, the Chinese group who came back towards us, and an English group. We need to see what’s real, because others had presented themselves well in the past too.
“It’d be a tragedy if Palermo were to end up in the hands of amateurs who don’t know what it means to run a football club. I am waiting to meet with Cascio. I told him I don’t care about money, I just want to see investments, otherwise I need to sell important players to balance the books.”
Cascio is an Italian-American entrepreneur who was already in advanced negotiations to buy Palermo in August 2016. You can read our exclusive interview with the former man who wrote a book about his experiences with Michael Jackson here.
“Cascio wouldn’t have the role of President like Baccaglini. He’ll only be given power the moment he coughs up the money,” continued Zamparini.
“I gave Cascio two options: enter with a low sum that would allow Palermo to not sell people like Ilija Nestorovski or don’t enter at all.
“I hope to conclude a deal with Cascio, because I cannot be the future of Palermo. Some journalists in the city want this club to fail. I am working for the future, but there are wolves out there.”
Baccaglini had originally been part of Cascio’s conglomerate, but then part of it split off when negotiations hit problems.
“Cascio has important American investors behind him. I dream of leaving Palermo to Sicilians with a solid economic structure. I rejected Baccaglini because he could not give guarantees for the future, so I prefer Cascio.”