Less than a year after being "hailed as a hero for saving debt-ridden Valencia, the first cracks are beginning to appear in Singapore billionaire Peter Lim's project," according to Tim Hanlon of REUTERS. Fans are openly questioning his involvement and the atmosphere in the Mestalla Stadium is "becoming increasingly hostile with fans whistling and jeering underfire coach Nuno Espirito Santo." Such antipathy may appear "exaggerated at such an early stage of the season and Valencia fans are known for their hastiness in turning against coaches but this time the causes of their anger appear to run deeper than just results on the pitch." A growing number doubt the credentials of Nuno to be coach and believe he was put in place "due to his friendship with Jorge Mendes, one of Lim's close business contacts." Lim is rarely seen at the Mestalla and "his stance of always being in the background has only helped to reinforce an air of mystery about him although he has had some previous involvement in football which has included him holding third-party ownership of players." Under Lim, Valencia is back among Europe's elite and is looking to move into a new stadium in '19, but "some claim they overpaid for players like Rodrigo Moreno, Alvaro Negredo and Joao Cancelo who arrived for a reported combined total of €77M ($85.7M)." Former VP of the club Miguel Zorio has said that he will "present a paper to a supporters meeting on Thursday alleging mismanagement of the club's finances." A Valencia spokesperson "declined to comment" (REUTERS, 9/22).
