Chelsea and football agent Pini Zahavi have "saved Belgian top flight club Royal Mouscron-Péruwelz from its financial perils" by investing a reported €8.5M ($9.3M) in the club to buy 90% of the shares, according to Samindra Kunti of INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL. Mouscron-Péruwelz went bankrupt in '10 and has been in a "fragile financial state ever since, generating little revenue and fan attraction." Ligue 1 side Lille became a majority shareholder in the club, but parted ways with Mouscron-Péruwelz this season. The Sultan of Oman Qaboos bin Said Al Said, with an estimated net worth of $700M, "was rumored to take over the club, but such a takeover never materialized." Now Zahavi, "using a smoke screen via a Maltese front company," with former Nantes President Jean-Luc Gripond and Cameroonian agent Teny Yerima acting as negotiators in the deal, has acquired a majority stake in Mouscron-Péruwelz. Chelsea may want to use Mouscron-Péruwelz to "blood younger players allowing them to develop in the context of top-flight football." Zahavi is prepared to pay €8.5M to buy 90% of the shares, but Mouscron-Péruwelz "demands that the club keeps investing in its local talent" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 7/3).
