Tony Bloom’s involvement with Brighton & Hove Albion and Royale Union Saint-Gilloise doesn’t lead to the two clubs working in tandem, at least with transfers. This is according to the Belgian club’s chairman, Alex Muzio.
The Englishman owns both the Seagulls and the Jupiler Pro League side, and this link has seen the former send some of their players on loan to Union Saint-Gilloise in recent years.
Club Brugge beat Union to win the title last season. After their success, Club Brugge president Bart Verhaeghe stated that his side “fought against Brighton” [since Bloom also owns Union] to become the Belgian champions.
“In his place I would have spoken about my joy and pride. Well, Bart Verhaeghe never thought of us as a fairytale like many others, not even when we obtained our promotion,” Muzio told Het Nieuwsblad.
The Belgian newspaper pressed Muzio on whether Verhaeghe was right about the Brighton link because the ownership connection.
Responding to this, Muzio detailed the loan spells Brighton sanctioned for Moises Caicedo and Percy Tau in recent years as examples of how the two clubs operate independently.
“Ask anyone at the club how often Tony Bloom calls them to tell them what to do. That never happens. Union and Brighton do what is best for them,” he explained.
“Moises Caicedo is doing very well in the Premier League, but he ended up at Beerschot. Because it was better for the player and Brighton. Percy Tau was at Club and Anderlecht. Same story. We are not part of any kind of Brighton network. That doesn’t exist, by the way.”
In the summer transfer window, the Belgian club took Simon Adingra on loan from Brighton. Muzio said this operation was carried out because the deal was right for all parties involved.
“Because that was the best for all parties. Had another Belgian club been more interesting for Adingra, he would be elsewhere now. If we didn’t want him, he wouldn’t be here now. There is no strategy, there are no obligations,” the Union chief stressed.
