This summer has seen several things confirmed: Barcelona, scarily, feel they can improve; Arsenal are, indefinitely, in a stage of transition; and the spending power of Europe’s foreign-owned confederation of clubs has grown vastly.
During the last few years, Manchester City have chaired that group. They have spent lavishly and often, with the much-yearned Champions League qualification finally coming to fruition. But this summer, whilst they have indulged in extensive retail therapy, they have not had the luxury of being able to attract players by throwing money at them. Not because their owners have upped sticks (a consequence which would surely result in a collapse of Enron proportions), but because other, newly-bought European teams are now doing the throwing.
With 15 of the 20 English Premier League teams controlled by a majority shareholder, private ownership has become a contentious issue over the last few seasons. Whilst some disagree vehemently, the same nay-sayers often experience a change of heart when it is their club on the receiving end of hundreds of millions of pounds of investment. But in Italy, where foreign ownership was an alien concept, the takeover of AS Roma was met with huge resistance from their fans, not just the hardcore, troglodyte Ultras. After this summer though, they probably have different feelings towards the club’s sugar daddies.
Last year, the Sensi family felt they had taken the Romans as far into battle as they could. Talks began on finding a new owner, with Thomas DiBenedetto, a Boston-based, American/Italian entrepreneur, proving an early favourite. Speculation mounted, rumours spread and then subsided, and aspersions were cast until April 2011 when ‘NEEP Roma holding’ (led by DiBenedetto) finally succeeded in acquiring a majority share. The first foreign owners of Serie A had entered the arena and were now, inevitably, the subject of intense ire from the heckling fans who wanted them thrown to the lions.
But, like the valiant gladiators before them, they fought. Apart from instead of using bats or spears, they used a much more powerful weapon: their chequebook. For instead of believing that, contrary to popular belief, their host city was not built in a day, they wished to assemble an all-conquering, all-star cast.
€64 million later and there now exists the ‘Roma project’. Big names have gone (including John-Arne Riise, Jeremy Ménéz, Doni, Phillippe Méxes) and bigger names have arrived (such as Miralem Pjanic, Maarten Stekelenburg, Bojan Krkic, Pablo Osvaldo, Gabriel Heinze). In addition, after successfully leading Barcelona B to the second division title, Luis Enrique was charged with the task of leading these expensive troops into combat. He may have attracted the attention of NEPP by the fact that, as a player, he earned the adulation of Barcelona fans with his never-say-die attitude. Or it could be that his career path has so far mirrored Pep Guardiola, and his star continues to ascend.
Roma’s stars, meanwhile, seem aligned. But, one problem: the project’s faltering.
Whilst industrial action has, similarly to Spain, seen the delay of the Italian leagues kick-off, cracks have been showing at the Stadio Olimpico coliseum. Plucky, but lowly, Slovak outfit Slovan Bratislava dumped i Giallorossi out of the Europe League, meaning no European stage upon which these A-listers can perform. Before that, the enigmatic Francesco Totti seemed visibly at odds with Enrique, the disagreement resulting in a substitution for the legendary trequartista during the Bratislava game, thus, with the eventual result, fuelling angst from the press.
So the moneymen did what moneymen do: they spent. Again. Right up until the culminating minutes of the transfer window. This time though, hopes are hinged on the shoulders of a loanee, a blond Danish bombshell by the name of Simon Kjaer.
Despite only being 22, the centre-half has already rejected Real Madrid, played in three countries and been capped extensively. He made his name at Palermo where he was the stand-out performer in an under-achieving team, before moving on to Wolfsburg and Germany last summer. Despite having a successful first season, Project Roma was too attractive to turn down. And Kjaer was too attractive to turn them down.
He’s a rugged centre half, who patrols and marauds his area, exactly what’s been missing in Roma’s backline. Despite his years, he’s authorative and never hesitates to be vocal. It’s this passion which the fans have been crying out for: a player in the mould of lynchpin Daniele De Rossi.
So, whilst football continues to be resistant to this current age of austerity, it makes for interesting viewing as Project Roma unfolds under the watching eye of the baying fans. Now all they need is that loving attention which Kjaer may provide.
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