Futbol Club Jumilla owner Steven Lee has lifted the lid on the agreement made between the Spanish minnows and Wolverhampton Wanderers’ owners Fosun Group in a bid to boost the Premier League side’s fortunes going forward.
The Segunda B team have taken a number of the English top flight club’s young talents on loan this season as the Chinese owners look to boost the development of the players at youth level, using their connections with Jumilla to get their starlets senior game time.
Speaking of the partnership between the two teams, Lee said that it was helping both Wolves and the Spanish outfit, as they manage to secure signings they would not have been able to without the agreement in place.
He told the Birmingham Mail: “In Shanghai there are not many people in charge of football overseas so that’s why we meet, talk about it and come up with an interesting idea. We contact each other very often.
“It’s the third year we’ve been in management. For the previous two seasons it has been very difficult. It’s a countryside, not a big city, so players go to our neighbours like (Real) Murcia. It’s difficult to attract good enough players and extremely difficult to generate income. For such a small club it’s tough to survive in this category.
“There are 80 teams in Segunda B and one quarter of those are affiliated teams so it’s extremely difficult to compete. We think that with the partnership of Wolverhampton that even as a small club like Jumilla we might have a chance to not just survive but to maybe go further. We really appreciate Wolverhampton has made a great effort to convince some young and promising players to come here.”
Opinion
Wolves have been completely and utterly transformed from the side they were a couple of years ago, and it is all thanks to the money and connections that being owned by the Chinese conglomerate have brought them. Some might argue that the Molineux outfit have an unfair advantage, being able to call upon business allies to boost their hopes of success, not to mention the seemingly unlimited chequebook to sign new talent and improve their side. However, this is the way football works nowadays and any owners who are not willing to follow the same model are simply going to be left behind – just look at Newcastle and Mike Ashley, who have quickly been usurped by Wolves this season despite one spending last season in the Premier League and the other in the Championship. It sounds as though Wolves are keen at bringing through youth talent as well, hence their partnership with Jumilla, and fans can expect to see many more youngsters head out to Spain to learn their trade and pick up the necessary experience for their return, potentially to the first team.