Roma to be sold?

[azzurri]

American billionaire John J. Fisher is being linked with a takeover of Italian club AS Roma. Fisher is part-owner of the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer and is the son of the founder of the Gap clothing chain.

Last month there were strong reports in the Italian media that Roma would have to be sold due to the fact that the club's parent company, Italpetroli, had accumulated debts in the region of $580 million.

Giallorossi administrative delegate Rosella Sensi has since made numerous declarations that her father, President Franco Sensi, would not be selling the club. The latest of these denials came at the weekend.

"I'm very sorry that this sort of news come out always before important games. These are news items which disturb the team," she said. "Roma is an important club. Last time I denied that this was happening, but it wasn't enough as no one believed me. We have the right to take legal action in order to protect the interests of both the club and its shareholders."

However these statements have not prevented new reports emerging that Fisher is ready to buy Roma and write off the debts owed by Italpetroli.

Fisher is 46 years old and has a personal wealth estimated at $2.4 billion. He is said to have informally met Sensi last July, and is interested in buying Roma as he feels there are real global and merchandise possibilities.

Fisher also feels he can help Roma become an even more powerful force on the soccer side of things, and to appease fans concerned of a foreign invasion similar to that in the English Premiership, he will make Franco Sensi as the club's honorary President.

SI.com - Soccer - Gap heir, Quakes co-owner Fisher linked to Roma takeover - Tuesday March 18, 2008 10:16AM

Roma have released an official statement denying a £180m takeover bid from American businessmen.

There had been reports in the Corriere della Sera newspaper that Casey Wasserman was lining up a multi-million pound offer to buy out the club.

He is already the owner of the Los Angeles Avengers and the Sports Entertainment Film studio.

“Referring to the stories in the media, we would like to make it clear that Compagnia Italpetroli, who are the majority shareholders of AS Roma, repeat that neither this company nor Roma 2000 Srl have received any interest in buying the club.

“So the newspaper stories are to be considered totally lacking in foundation.

“We reserve the right to take legal action to look after our interests and those of our shareholders.”

channel4.com - Football Italia

[dukeofdavinci]

heard the rumors too, but since there is no real and solid activity even in the shares of roma, it clear that this might be just another scrapped news.

[LaVecchiaSignora]

Ya bring the ownership to the USA!

[sinoy1]

if it helps Roma as a whole.I wouldnt mind.the Sensi's are in major debt.They'll need to think about selling soon.

[LaVecchiaSignora]

Plus they cant afford SHIT. bringing them to the USA for an owner who actually wants to invest a shit ton of money into them will benifit them

[Forza_Roma]

Seems this story will be get more interesting in the coming months, weeks or possibly days????

Goal.com - Roma - Roma Set For American Take-Over This Week?

[LaVecchiaSignora]

If the talks go well, Soros is then expected to launch an immediate takeover bid. In order to soften up Roma fans, who are against foreign ownership, the 78-year-old has spoken in glowing terms of Francesco Totti

WONT BE FOREIGN TO ME! I gotta find this guy and try and get him to give me a job!!! haha

[azzurri]

SI.com - Soccer - American billionaire Soros enters Roma takeover picture - Monday April 7, 2008 5:26PM

I doubt there would be this much interest if the club were not up for sale.

Other than nationalistic pride, I dont c y Roma fans care. A lack of cash is holding u back. Once Juve are fully rebuilt, and Milan update their squad, Roma will slide down the table again. They need investment if they want to stay competitive, and having a salary cap in today's football doesn't work.

[Forza_Roma]

Apparantly, Rosella is not making the trip to England for the CL match and rumors suggest that Soros is in Rome. Seems like this story could become more interesting in the coming days.

Roma need a wealthy owner, but Roma fans do not want a foreign owner. Either way, Roma have built a quality team in the past 3 years...hence the reason why we are in the CL and Milan and Inter are both eliminated.

[dukeofdavinci]

george soros,the one that caused the 97' economic recession in s.e asia.

i better see roma in the hands of sensi's.im not particular in to his track rep even though he can buy us the scuddetto.

[azzurri]

At the very least, u need to get rid of the cap. As I said b4, Juve and Milan will return to their former strength, and I doubt Roma will be 2nd place. U need investment, foreign or otherwise, if the club is to move forward.

Look at this, and u will c my point. If Juve are willing to offer Tiago, Almiron and Brazzo more than De Rossi, Aquilani and Mancini respectively, despite the latter 3 players being alot better (and actually playing), u will have a hard time holding onto your players. Boumsong made as much as Mexes when he was with Juve.

[dukeofdavinci]

actually ive known the stats already, yes we will fall behind if we dont have any major investors as milan and co's.we need them to take our club to the next level but i prefer it would be any one else...im not against a take over but im against him taking over thats all.

[D-Kin]

Originally Posted by Forza_Roma

Roma have built a quality team in the past 3 years...hence the reason why we are in the CL and Milan and Inter are both eliminated.

Not really....

Your 'success' over the past couple of years is down to Spalletti more than the fact you've 'built a quality team'.

You need more money to compete with the big boys, to me you seem a little in denial. You won't win the league this season and Man Utd will see you off tonight. Why? Because quite simply clubs like that are better equipped. Milan will spend big this summer and so will us and Inter if all goes to plan. There's only so far you can go with free transfers etc, Milan have proved that.

If you think back to the Scudetto winning squad of 2001 and you're current team just doesn't compare. You aren't that far off but you're still lacking a 20 goal-a-season striker (not Totti), a reliable goalkeeper and some decent backups to some of your starting players.

The bottom line is, you need more money. Whether it's a foreign investor or not you're going to need the financial backing to compete in Serie A and Europe.

[Forza_Roma]

Spalletti only takes Roma so far. But, the individual players make the difference on the field. There's a reason why Roma have defeated Lyon and Real Madrid the past two seasons...Roma are simply that good. The players play for the jersey and have confidence in one another. You are correct, Roma definitely need more money to not compete against the other top clubs in Italy, but to strategically build a deeper squad to compete in three tournaments. Let's not forget that today is April 9, and Roma are very much still involved in three competitions. And although unlikely, they have the potential to still claim all three titles.

I would really like to see Azzurri post those stats of Roma compared to Inter. I would suggest that Roma pay half of what Inter's salary is. And Roma are only 4 points away from first overall. That speaks high volumes of this team and the character they possess.

But, ultimately, they need more money to build a larger team...the quality is there and if anyone that does not see that based on the past 3 seasons....i don't know what else to say.

[D-Kin]

Originally Posted by Forza_Roma

But, ultimately, they need more money to build a larger team...the quality is there and if anyone that does not see that based on the past 3 seasons....i don't know what else to say.

The question is, how many of your players would actually make it into the starting lineup of a team like Man Utd?

Totti and De Rossi maybe, not much else though.