Man City owner City Football Group is “close to making” Belgian second-tier side Lommel the "ninth club in its portfolio." CFG "already has stakes in clubs playing in the U.S., Japan, Australia, and China, among others." There has been no official comment but is understood CFG will wipe out the club's £1.75M ($2.17M) debt as part of the deal (BBC, 5/8). CFG posted an annual revenue of £584M in ‘18 and has a combined asset value of £804M ($998M), according to the same report (London DAILY MAIL, 5/7).
An unnamed Ligue 1 president “blocked the sale” of Toulouse to a Chinese-American consortium led by ex-Nice and current League Championship side Barnsley Owner Chien Lee. Discussions “are still taking place” between the two parties, despite the “45-day exclusive negotiation period” between the two parties having expired in April (RMC SPORT, 5/5). Lee’s group, while “still interested in Toulouse,” is also “ready to buy” Ligue 2 side Caen. The Normandy-based club offers a “high-quality youth academy and a strong local following.” The group has “not yet made an offer,” but its “interest is concrete enough” to have given the club a valuation of around €6M ($6.5M) (L’EQUIPE, 5/7).
