Javier Fernandez and the Orlegi Group continue to take steps to reach a meeting point that will allow closing the sale of Sporting to the Mexican group. The maximum rojiblanco shareholder has communicated in the last few hours to his closest circle his will to reach an agreement with the Aztecs. While on the part of Fernández he wants to leave the formula and the payment guarantees well tied, on the Mexican side the rojiblancos’ numbers continue to be examined to finish outlining an offer that, in the best of cases, could reach 40 millions of euros. As LA NUEVA ESPAÑA has learned, the two parties have agreed to hold a meeting in Madrid next week to continue the negotiation.
The main protagonists of the operation will not be those who meet in Madrid in the coming days. At least that is not expected. Sources close to the negotiation point out to LA NUEVA ESPAÑA that both Sporting and Grupo Orlegi will be represented by people trusted by Javier Fernández and Alejandro Irarragorri, the two heads of Sporting and Orlegi, respectively. The objective is to give continuity to procedures related to the study of the documentation that allow outlining an agreement. There is interest from both sides, but it is assured that, although the talks are very advanced, nothing is closed yet. The process aims to consume several weeks to enter its final stretch, if it is finally the case.
In the case of Grupo Orlegi, during the open negotiation with Zaragoza there were at least two figures who traveled to Spain to put a face to the group’s interest during the process in which the search for an agreement intensified. The club from Maño sat down in Madrid with Alfonso VillalbaCEO of the group and one of its founders in 2013. He was the one who tried to advance some aspects related to the purchase in conversation with one of the directors of César Alierta. Another member of Orlegi’s organization chart was in Zaragoza, Martin Hoallaenderfinance director, who came into closer contact with the financial reality of the club.
Orlegi’s is not the only proposal that Javier Fernández has had in recent months, although it is the one that has found interest in starting a negotiation in Sporting’s largest shareholder. In March, as LA NUEVA ESPAÑA reported, he ignored other approaches, two of them also from abroad, with an initial proposal regarding the appraisal of the club that was understood as “out of market”. In recent months, both the will of the largest shareholder and his economic pretensions have changed. His family has also invited him to rethink the sale of the club to avoid continuing the wear and tear that the last weeks of the season have caused, with the club at risk of falling to the First RFEF for the first time in its history.
The Orlegi Group approaches Sporting with the desire to expand its business model to Europe after its nine years of experience in Mexican soccer. Their first attempts have not prospered, Zaragoza being the only one in which they have communicated both the start of a negotiation and its breakdown. Under his radar were other Second teams, such as Leganés, and even First RFEF. The group places special value on being clubs with a large social mass, in addition to having a healthy financial situation.
