- Jun 30, 2020
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There is. But it’s a long term investment. Which is probably why it would make more sense for a group to buy them, over a singular investor. You’d have to be very patient to see a return on investment... which would likely take about ten or so years. So, unless some exorbitantly rich individual wants to buy them as a play thing, it’s probably going to take a much larger business entity to come up with the moola. And even then, there are risks aplenty to consider. So, whether we like it or not, we are trapped with ENIC, Levy, Lewis, and the crippling stadium debt for the foreseeable future. Which is kinda a bummer, considering how precipitous our decline has become. Hard to see us competing for CL places over the four or five years. Much depends on getting lucky with low risk transfers on younger, unproven talent, and selling big players for huge transfer fees... a la Dortmund. But that also feels like a pipe dream, as it requires an extremely serious recalibration from the bottom up. A philosophy that would need to be woven into every aspect of player recruitment and development. A reset and restructuring that Levy and Lewis haven’t demonstrated much of an appetite for.
Agreed with much of that.
I wouldn't describe the stadium debt as "crippling", though. "Limiting" would be more accurate. The way that it is structured means that the club has flexibility with regard to repayment. In the meanwhile, the interest payable is at an historically low rate (aided by the club's good reputation as a well managed business). So, while the requirement to service and (eventually) repay the debt means that we cannot divert all operating profits towards transfers and wages, the stadium is (in normal circumstances) a veritable cash cow. So we will still have significantly greater clout in the transfer market than we had with no debt in the old stadium.
I would also argue that Levy has, in the past, very much demonstrated an appetite for the kind of DoF player (and coach) recruitment structure that you advocate. However, he appears to have lost sight of that. He needs to revisit it. And implement it thoroughly. Without caveat.