Portuguese businessman Fernando Corte-Real continues to speak to his home country’s press about his plans to acquire Charlton Athletic.
This morning, we covered a story from newspaper Record in which he was quoted saying he’d like to take the club to the Premier League in five years.
A report from RTP says the bid for the takeover has already been made, and Corte-Real has also spoken to them about the next steps.
“We have to wait for Charlton to communicate a decision on the conditions that we put on the table. We look forward to discussing them. We are patiently waiting.”
He says his group “manages funds and assets of some investors who see in this change in the market an interest in diversifying and see football with different eyes at this moment”.
Regarding the Coronavirus crisis, Corte-Real has claimed Championship sides are not expected to be as affected as top flight clubs. And instead of speaking about promotion in five years, now he says it could happen even sooner.
“We believe that the impact is more at the level of top-tier clubs, clubs that have very high structural loads. Obviously, [Charlton] have some risks, but we think they are easier to manage in a club that is currently in this dimension now to progress and evolve to, within 3-5 years, the Premier League.”
With nine fixtures to go, Charlton are also risking relegation to League One. According to the businessman, that would require a more elaborated plan so they can get the club back on track. Still, that wouldn’t stop them from acquiring the London side.
“But the situation can happen, and if it does, the management approach will have to be a little bit more structured. We don’t imagine that this could be decisive.”
