São Paulo president Júlio Casares has confirmed they’re in talks with Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis about an investment into the Brazilian club.
Terra cover comments from Casares today in which he explains that Marinakis is looking to invest rather than fully take over the club at this moment in time.
Reports from Brazil have indicated that Marinakis is leading the charge to buy a club in Brazil and at some point, in the near future, with talks already underway to add them to his stable of clubs, including Nottingham Forest.
All reports so far have been that he’s keen on Vasco de Gama, with the Greek magnate even appointing Edu from Arsenal to head up the talks and bringing in agent Giuliano Bertolucci to act as a bridge between the various parties.
There are competing organisations looking to acquire Vasco, though, with them very much up for sale following the collapse of American investment group 777 Partners.
That had led to suggestions the Nottingham Forest owner could be outmanoeuvred despite his efforts so far, despite Vasco fans making it clear they wanted him to be handed the club over others.
Perhaps that has led him to consider other options to and, according to Casares, he’s also in talks about an investment in São Paulo.
“We’re talking. It’s still embryonic, I’m taking it very calmly, but we’re moving well towards bringing in a businessman linked to the sports platform, not just the financial one,” he said.
“Sale of the base, never. It is an asset of São Paulo. What we are envisioning is an operational agreement with “revenue share”, which means the investor puts in (money) and also participates.
“The most important thing is to understand that, in the current situation, there is already businessman participation, which is legitimate, but the clubs they form need to have a greater participation.
“He (Marinakis) arrives with this expectation, if he arrives, but, of course, if one day the institution discusses a SAF, naturally he will have the preference to listen first. São Paulo has a lever that could be discussed in the future, if the institution thinks so. I’m not going to talk about money, but São Paulo will start to breathe and be competitive.”
