“Marie, I won’t get it until the end of the month, but I will buy a mink coat in parts.” Read on and you will understand me. In Valencia, there are two clubs that are almost shaking hands. One, Valencia have been flirting with relegation since 22/23. The other, Levante UD, relegated to the 2nd division, of course if a relegated team has a mid-table or European team spending structure, the problem is multiplied.
Remember that after a year of non-promotion you no longer get Relegation Aid (30-40 kilos) and it kills you. So you have to sell and almost part with the players. Kiko Catalan resigned after not getting a promotion, and his friend Jose Danvilla took the bull, very hardworking. a successful businessman in his field (luxury leathers), far from the egos of football and for whom this party already costs more than 22 million euros when he wants was to invest a maximum of 10. In addition, it does not have the total power of the club, since it has only 37%, the same percentage as the Levante Foundation, which is an abstract structure of the Valencian society, but which does not allocate money at the moment “Levante”. has a very serious problem. It does not come at the end or at the beginning of the month. Until a few days ago, the salary of 1.7 million euros was not paid. It will take at least 15 million euros to finish the season, which Danville no longer wants or can’t or shouldn’t give, and is looking for an investor to put it up against the club’s interest.
Meanwhile, another red or black ball approaches. Sell a player in January so he can come in and free up cash, or not, so as not to weaken a team so close to the promotion zone. he may not collect the salary. And if they sell and don’t promote, then Levante will not get out of the vicious cycle until someone comes and injects money and buys another part of the club, which will end the romanticism that Levante belongs to the Levantine Valencians.
At least Danvilla is consistent and working on non-pie-in-the-sky solutions that are realistic, solid, and future-oriented, even if they’re inconvenient. At the moment, the club is desperately looking for an investment fund that will give 5 million euros at 11-12% with a guarantee of future sales, so that it can solve the problem for two to three months. But it’s a temporary short-term solution. The reality is that either the club gets promoted or part of the club has to be sold to another investor who agrees to invest, be it from Valencia or Valencia. is, a club whose economic size is almost double and which currently has a real scenario with the possibility of relegation.
The club, despite the huge cuts made by the owner, as it is now the fifth season the team has not played in Europe, still opens the business valve on 24/25 with 116 million in expenses and 100 in income. Over half of those 100 (54) are from TV who are relegated and traded with the 35 I calculate they get in exchange for Relegation Aid. and taking into account the retention of 37,000 subscribers, who donate 16 million to the club (in the first place), it can reach 70 million at the start against 116 of expenses. And the club has few players left to sell in order to make a profit. If a club is not promoted in the first season, its viability is very difficult. Bankruptcy proceedings would go out the window. If you raise the first season and cover the 45-50 million imbalance with player sales, you can avoid the big bad wolf. But if you don’t get promoted in the first season.
Well, in all this, the club is advertising on the one hand that they are not going to make any signings because they have almost no Fair Play space to sign. On the other hand, the works on its new stadium, which has been suspended for 15 years, will start on January 12. It is said to cost €190m plus VAT between the works and the stadium relocation obligations, and will be paid for with a loan of up to €325m led by Goldman Sachs. The club actually has 80 million expected from the CVC loan. The rest, up to 190 + VAT, should come from the sale of assets, mainly the rezoned land for the current stadium (for 600 flats and a shopping centre) after it is demolished, and office, commercial and hotel. tower next to the New Stadium. But the club cannot receive that income until the New Stadium is finished. And to finish it, he needs money. Speaking of those numbers, up to 325 million loans, with an annual fee that would require a job of 190 + VAT and from January 12th, when you don’t know if you’ll be in 1st or 2nd, you can: to be only part of the script of a Netflix series or the irresponsibility of the largest shareholder, who has also already made it clear that he neither lends nor puts more money into his club.
The club’s accounts for the 23/24 season show that in January they had to urgently request another loan policy from the Right & Media Foundation for €20 million because they were drowning. And in a hidden but interesting part, it is mentioned that they even rented the photocopiers of the club. And in all that nobody stops the snowball. This only makes sense if the club is being sold or is being sold and the new owner coming in with a check book is ready and so I don’t understand why they haven’t given the order to strengthen the team urgently because if valencia goes down neither lim will sell it for the 400 he wants nor the stadium is going to finish it and if he started it he has to stop it… and maybe levante will save the ball, but Valencia may fall flat on their face from the blow they will receive.There are plenty of warnings that economic drama is on the way. Let’s see if you learned anything, everyone!