LALIGA
How former Manchester United chief executive Peter Kenyon could save Barcelona and Ilkay Gündogan
Barça play their first LaLiga game against Getafe on Sunday but haven’t yet been able to register the former Manchester City captain.
Barcelona face a race against time to be able to register several players ahead of the start of the 2023/24 LaLiga season, which they are hoping to achieve via one of their famous “financial levers” (on this occasion, the sale of 16% of Barça Studios, worth €60 million/$65.65 million).
La Blaugrana have been locked in negotiations with a German investment group that hasn’t officially been named, but is thought to be Libero Football Finance AG, a company listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange that specialises in providing “financial and economic guidance to top European football clubs”. And long-term fans of European soccer will recognise one of the group’s managing directors - Peter Kenyon.
Who is Peter Kenyon?
Kenyon, who is close to Barça president Joan Laporta, was a director and chief executive of English sportswear firm Umbro for a decade before taking on similar roles at Premier League clubs Manchester United (1997-2003) and Chelsea (2003-2009). In 2013, the 69-year-old then began doing consultancy work for clubs around the world through his own company, Opta Advisors, eventually becoming a managing director at Libero Football Finance earlier this year.
Former Germany international Fredi Bobic, who played for Borussia Dortmund and Stuttgart, is the ex-player involved with the company, which had an initial share capital of €40 million ($44.5 million). The ex-striker has worked as sporting director at a number of German clubs, including Stuttgart and Eintracht Frankfurt and Hertha Berlin.
What’s at stake for Barcelona and Gündogan?
The sale of the percentage of Barça Studios is key to them being able to register players who have agreed new contracts (Gavi, Ronaldo Araújo, Sergi Roberto, Marcos Alonso, Iñaki Peña), as well as new signings Ilkay Gündogan, whose move from Champions League winners Manchester City has been seen as a huge coup, Iñigo Martínez and Oriol Romeu.
Gündogan has a clause in his contract which enables him to leave Barcelona on a free transfer if he isn’t registered to play in LaLiga the day before their first match in the competition. The Catalans kick off their campaign with an away game at Getafe on Sunday 13 August, which means they have until Saturday 12 August to register the German.