V Sports purchase of FC Annecy could see Aston Villa players head to the French club in the near future.
Sport.fr report that Annecy have set their sights high thanks to their new relationship with Aston Villa through V Sports.
Aston Villa investment
Sport Witness covered a report yesterday that explained V Sport, Aston Villa’s owners, have acquired a 30% minority stake in the French club.
Sport.fr explain this was done through a capital increase that values the Savoyard club at around €15m. According to their information, no one really saw the investment coming.
The partnership has been brewing for moths behind the scenes thanks to an already well-established collaboration. Aston Villa sent young players on loan, shared methods and common ambitions.
Now the partnership is official, but nothing will change on the governance side. Sébastien Faraglia remains president, Philippe Rey-Gorrez is still the majority shareholder, and Laurent Guyot continues to manage the team.
Focus on youth development
The heart of the project will instead be youth development. And Annecy are planning to build a brand-new training centre to help the process. That could see Aston Villa youngsters head to France on loan to aid their development.
This is something that they’ve done with other partnerships. Several youngsters have spent time at Unai Emery’s Real Unión for example. With youth at the heart of the project, plans will already be underway on that front.
For Annecy, the ‘dream of reaching the top flight’ is getting closer. For them it’s a process that’s ‘slowly but surely’. They finished seventh last season in Ligue 2 and are now looing up. Only four points separated them from the top six and eight from the top four.
The investment from Aston Villa owners V Sports has them dreaming big either way, even if the focus will be on youth development for now.
