American investor Joseph DaGrosa is well-positioned for his next investment in football, and he’s thinking very big.
DaGrosa exited Ligue 1 outfit Bordeaux and says he passed on buying Newcastle in recent months, also making a pair of big real estate moves just before the pandemic hit.
Had he purchased Newcastle or stayed with Bordeaux, he’d be amongst the many European club owners weathering a terrible climate while waiting out a pandemic.
Instead, DaGrosa sees an opportunity to build around a massive club in the Premier League or La Liga. He’s made his money in turning around companies, and believes that wisdom can be applied here on a broad scale.
“In this environment, given what’s going on with the coronavirus pandemic, we believe there’s an opportunity to recreate City Football Group at a fraction of the cost,” DaGrosa told ProSoccerTalk this week. “Club valuations are already coming down. In many cases, clubs are going to be effectively taken over by their lenders. There’s going to be some great opportunities in the next 12 months, and great opportunities to get world-class players at a fraction of the cost. This is the time to capitalize it.”
Here’s how it would work for his project, which he’s calling Kapital Football Group, “a new soccer platform holding company, to acquire controlling and influential minority stakes in world-class football clubs and academies at deep valuation discounts.”
DaGrosa aims to buy “an anchor club, most likely in the Premier League,” and then invest in three to five satellite clubs in Europe and South America. He’d also invest in nine academies, three in Asia, three in Africa, and three between North and South America. He didn’t rule out investing in MLS if the valuation proves fruitful, but DaGrosa is also “taking a real hard look” at USL clubs.
“If we can put that together we’ll have a formidable group that can rival City Football Group,” he said.
The CEO and co-founder of GACP Sports, DaGrosa starting eyeballing clubs, including Spanish outfit Getafe a couple of years ago. That didn’t work out during the due diligence stage, which led him to Bordeaux.
He calls running the Ligue 1 club “a fantastic learning experience for the world of European football.”
“Today we have a better appreciation for the importance of legacy of the clubs as well as the importance of the fans contributing to that success,” he said. “And thanks to that experience, we now look for those same qualities in the clubs we are looking to acquire next.”
A rumored 2019 deal to buy Newcastle didn’t work out, but DaGrosa is still laser-focused on making his impact on the global game.
What kind of club is he eyeing? Is it strictly about the best bang for his buck, or does the appeal and history of the club carry significant weight?
“Legacy is a big part out of it,” he said. “I’m even more sensitive today given our experience at Bordeaux. We always understood the legacy and passion of the fans, but all clubs have a special place in the history of the cities and communities in which they are located. In some cases, they are the lifeblood. In the U.S. you think of the Green Bay Packers. I have a much better appreciation for legacy in the history of the clubs we are looking to require, particularly in the Premier League. It’s less important in the U.S. where you don’t have multi-generational ties to one club, but it’s still important.”
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There’s keen interest in the United States, as DaGrosa stresses what many investors have noted: The 2026 World Cup is going to drive interest in the potential of this country both here and abroad.
We asked DaGrosa why, given that, he wouldn’t dive into Major League Soccer? He’s not ruling it out, but expressed concerns with the franchise fees and revenues in the short-term. Building a club here takes a lot more investment, risk, and patience than, say, a century-old club that holds sway in its region.
“You can build a club (in MLS) that’s going to cost 500 or 600 million bucks,” he said. “At the end of the day, you’re paying 10 times revenues. Or you can buy a club like Bordeaux established in 1881 that has a remarkable history, pedigree, and is a brand known around the world, for 1.6 times revenue. When you look at the metrics it’s hard, not impossible to make a compelling case for MLS over the short-term. If you have a lot of staying power, there’s money to be made but clubs in general are going to trade as a function of their broadcasting rights revenue, and we’re just not seeing that in the U.S. at a rate required to justify the valuation.”
DaGrosa believes in the American soccer market and says the system is on the verge of becoming an elite talent exporter, comparing its potential to that of a current font further south.
“Other markets are going to open up,” he said. “Most of the great clubs in Brazil were insolvent before the effects of the coronavirus. There’s a movement to privatize clubs and we feel there’s going to be an opportunity to get the really top names in Brazil. Those satellite clubs are designed to be good investments in their own right but the name of the game is to secure world class players and Brazil is one of those markets that can immediately supply world class players. The U.S. is a market that can do that in five to seven years.”
DaGrosa’s interest in the Premier League is deep-seated, and has only grown given his expectations for how well the league is equipped to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The PL will emerge as the strongest league and there may be some good deals to be had,” he said. “There are going to be financially distressed owners throughout football globally. There will be some lenders that are going to be scared to death who’d love to create a win-win with someone with capital. If the market is down 20-30 percent, segments of the public market that will be down 30-40 percent, football could be down 50-75 percent. It’s a great time to buy with dry powder so after the acquisitions you can build up a world-class team at a fraction of what it would otherwise cost. In our discussion with investors, we can essentially buy today and invest 25-40 cents on the dollar relative to what we would’ve paid six months ago.”
That’s when he was in “mid-to-late stage discussions” with Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley and his partners about the northeast outfit.
DaGrosa insists that Ashley was “first-class” in negotiations despite many reports about his combustible nature.
“It’s unfortunate in one respect that the deal didn’t go forward,” he said. “With a guy like Mike Ashley you might get punched in the face but you’ll never get knifed in the back. At the time it was disappointing the deal didn’t go forward. It was on our side that a major backer pulled out at the last minute but hindsight is 20-20. Better to be lucky than smart because we probably dodged a short-term bullet.”
Now that twist of fate and timing may launch a wildly ambitious project in the next 12 months.
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Premier League leaders Arsenal host West Ham in a London derby on Boxing Day, as Mikel Arteta’s men aim to get off to a flying start to the restart.
STREAM LIVE ARSENAL v WEST HAM
The Gunners have a five-point lead atop the Premier League table after the first 14 games of the season and they’ve lost just once and drawn once so far, winning the other 12. However, Arteta has been dealt a big injury blow during the World Cup with Gabriel Jesus ruled out and it will be intriguing to see if Arsenal can simply pick up where they left off six weeks ago. All eyes will be on the north Londoners over the next few months as Arteta’s young side are set for a title battle but a few key injuries could quickly derail them.
As for the Hammers, David Moyes’ side have struggled in the Premier League this season but perhaps that is because they’ve prioritized the UEFA Europa Conference League? They are stacked with talent and at times they’ve looked like the team which finished sixth and seventh in the last two seasons respectively. Their main issue has been making defensive mistakes which is something they have to cut out.
Here’s everything you need to know for Arsenal vs West Ham.
Kick off: 3pm ET, Monday (December 26)
TV Channel: Peacock
Online: Stream via Peacock Premium
As we said, how Arsenal cope with the loss of Gabriel Jesus is key. The Brazilian striker suffered a knee injury during the World Cup and has had surgery. He is set to miss the next few months. In the meantime Eddie Nketiah will be tasked with replacing him up top and that is a huge ask and the Gunners may look to the January window for a stop-gap solution. Jesus hasn’t been banging in the goals but his link-up play allows Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard to flourish. Aside from the Jesus injury, everything is looking pretty good for Arsenal and now it’s all about seeing if they can regain that momentum they had in the first few months of the season.
For West Ham it’s about kicking on to push for a top 10 finish once again. David Moyes’ side sit just one point above the relegation zone and they’ve yet to find consistent form or figure out their best combinations in midfield and attack. The Hammers rely heavily on Declan Rice, while Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen have to regain their form of the last few seasons. The additions of Gianluca Scamacca and Lucas Paqueta haven’t really worked, so far. Having Nayef Aguerd back fit will be a huge boost and should shore them up defensively.
Saka was sensational at the World Cup for England, while Arsenal’s starting back four will actually be well-rested as between Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel and Oleksandr Zinchenko, only Saliba played at the World Cup and that was for 27 minutes. Arsenal’s midfield duo of Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka are so key, while there will be a lot of pressure on Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli and Fabio Vieira to plug the gap left by the injury to Jesus.
West Ham need Declan Rice to bring his World Cup form to the Premier League, while Jarrod Bowen has looked sharp in their midseason games. Again, the main thing is getting better defensively and Aguerd had a fine World Cup for Morocco and now he’s fit, that’s a massive boost for West Ham.
William Saliba could come straight back in after being at the World Cup with France, while Gabriel Jesus is the only big injury concern. Emile Smith Rowe is working his way back to full fitness, while Oleksandr Zinchenko missed the friendly defeat to Juventus.
Gianluca Scamacca picked up an injury in the friendly draw at Fulham, while Kurt Zouma did not feature after his recent knee injury and Michail Antonio was also absent.
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It was, by Liverpool’s own lofty standards, a disastrous first half of the season. The Reds (22 points) managed to climb into 6th place with back-to-back wins just before the 2022 World Cup break, but they sit seven points behind 4th-place Tottenham at the restart.
As for Aston Villa (18 points), (near-)disaster also applies. Steven Gerrard won just two of 11 games to start the season, and he was shown the door on Oct. 20. Unai Emery took over on Nov. 1 and guided Villa to back-to-back wins of their own, over 5th-place Manchester United and 7th-place Brighton, to land 12th in the table after 15 games.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Aston Villa vs Liverpool.
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Despite the arrival of Darwin Nunez in the summer, Roberto Firmino is enjoying a renaissance season as he leads Liverpool with seven goals, followed closely by Mohamed Salah (6) and Nunez (5). Firmino, who scored just five PL goals in 20 appearances last season, only became a regular starter once again after Sadio Mane left for Bayern Munich in the summer, and Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota suffered injuries that limited them to just 12 appearances between them.
Emery’s appointment marked a definitive turning point not only in terms of results, but the performance and tactical competence of a side that had won just three of 13 games and conceded 20 goals prior to his arrival. There was a 3-0 defeat to Fulham (Gerrard’s last game) and a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Newcastle (final game before Emery took over) in a span of nine miserable days in late October, but hope has already been restored by a man who has won four Europa League trophies in the last 10 years — a massive coup for the club.
OUT: Diego Carlos (achilles)
OUT: Luis Diaz (knee), Diogo Jota (thigh), Arthur Melo (thigh)
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Man City will have been stewing on a home loss to Brentford for a month and a half by the time this match kicks off, while Leeds is coming off a 4-3 loss to Tottenham.
Man City’s won four of the last five Premier League campaigns and a ninth PL title which would bring it level with Everton for the fourth-most top-flight crowns in English football history.
Leeds has three of those, the last coming in 1992, but they’d likely settle for a comfortable-enough finish outside of the bottom three.
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How will City look after a lot of time away? Probably not too far from its usual self, especially since Erling Haaland is well-rested, Kevin De Bruyne is more rested than expected, and the Blues will have spent six weeks looking at a table that says they are five points behind Liverpool Arsenal. Still getting used to that whole sentence structure.
Jesse Marsch’s Leeds beat Liverpool and Bournemouth before the thrilling but unsuccessful loss to Tottenham. USMNT midfielder Tyler Adams has yet to return to Leeds’ lineup but Brenden Aaronson came back in a 2-1 win over Real Sociedad and impressed. He will join Rodrigo, Marc Roca, and Jack Harrison as a key component the rest of the way.
QUESTIONABLE: Patrick Bamford (groin), Illan Meslier (illness), Junior Firpo (groin). OUT: Tyler Adams (suspension), Stuart Dallas (thigh), Luis SInisterra (ankle), Archie Gray (ankle).
No known injury issues. Aymeric Laporte is at the World Cup with France while Julian Alvarez is in the final with Argentina.
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Both Man Utd and Forest entered the World Cup break in winning ways but well below their preferred Premier League station.
The hosts have moved up the table following a slow start to life under manager Erik ten Hag. Man United sits fifth, three points off the top four with a match-in-hand on half the pack.
Forest has not been able to climb out of the bottom three, but has only lost once in its last five matches under Steve Cooper. The Tricky Trees are one point back of the 16th and 17th place sides, and two back of 15th.Erik
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Officially free from Cristiano Ronaldo distractions, who will look even more free without the Portuguese GOAT and recent club albatross around? Our bets are Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, but Jadon Sancho and Antony might shine more, too.
Forest beat Valencia in a friendly on Dec. 16, with Taiwo Awoniyi and Emmanuel Dennis amongst the goals. Both forwards firing forward consistently would but the Tricky Trees neatly above the drop zone very, very soon.
QUESTIONABLE: Raphael Varane (World Cup Final participation), Lisandro Martinez (World Cup Final participation), Diogo Dalot (hamstring). OUT: Mason Greenwood (indefinite suspension), Axel Tuanzebe (other).
QUESTIONABLE: Harry Toffolo (thigh), Neco Williams (head), Omar Richards (lower leg). OUT: Giulian Biancone (knee), Cheikhou Kouyate (thigh), Moussa NIakhate (thigh).
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