The day Arsenal saved Sevilla from bankruptcy | Soccer | Sports

”Euros, none, pesetas, few. There is no money in the box to even buy balls.” The words of Augusto Lahore, Sevilla’s financial manager in 2001, perfectly describe the situation of the Andalusian club at the beginning of this century. A fallen Spanish football great who had not won a title since 1948. José María del Nido became president in May 2002. “Sevilla’s debt is pocket change,” he commented.

A year and a half later, the manager made the most painful and, at the same time, most important decision in his first years as leader of Sevilla: the transfer of José Antonio Reyes to Arsenal in January 2004 for 25 million euros. A sale that saved the entity from bankruptcy, since 40 million were owed and that oxygen tank was vital. Almost 20 years later, Arsenal and Sevilla meet today in London in a decisive match for the Andalusian club in the Champions League (9:00 p.m., Movistar LC).

Reyes had an impressive emergence at Sevilla. He debuted at the age of 16 in the 1999-2000 season, but it was not until the 2001-02 campaign, at the age of 18, when he began to play regularly in the first team. “He was an impressive player. Without a doubt, one of the three best players that our quarry has produced throughout its history. He was unstoppable, with unusual physical and football talent. I have great memories of José Antonio,” explains Joaquín Caparrós, his coach at Sevilla at that time.

Reyes’ performance caught the attention of one of Europe’s greats, Arsenal coached by Arsène Wenger. The history of the youth player’s signing was peppered with anecdotes. Wenger sent executives from the London club to spy on the player’s lifestyle. These emissaries came to enter Sevilla’s sports city in disguise.

“We had renewed it and we wanted it to be the banner of our centenary in 2005, but that offer came in January 2004 and I had to act more with my head than with my heart,” says José María del Nido, president of Sevilla between 2002 and 2013. That January, Arsenal had made the last offer to Sevilla: 25 million euros. Del Nido agreed on the decision with the club’s largest shareholders. “It was a painful transfer, but business-wise necessary to revive an entity that had a liability of 40 million euros. It was fundamental because it allowed us to lay the foundations for a new Sevilla, which won a title 58 years later, the Europa League in 2006. I remember that Arsenal made us a first offer of 18 million and then we reached 25. Some were also included. “pluses,” recalls Del Nido. “My intention was to stay at Sevilla, as was the president’s. I could only leave if a crazy offer came. And the crazy man appeared,” Reyes said through tears on the day of his departure. Died in a traffic accident in 2019, the sale of him was a great contribution to Sevilla before his return in 2012.

The madman was an Arsenal of a stellar level, which had won the Premier in the 2001-02 season and did so again with the arrival of Reyes, in 2004, without losing a game (26 wins and 12 draws). The Arsenal of the invincibles, with players like Henry, Bergkamp, ​​Campbell, Kolo Touré, Vieira, Pirés and Reyes. And where a talent appeared at 17 years old, Cesc, who would end up dethroning the Andalusian.

“For me, José Antonio was the greatest talent that came out of our quarry. It was also the first major sale of Sevilla at that time, which inaugurated a formula that gave us the formula for success. That of buying cheap and selling well,” adds Del Nido. “The growth of the clubs is based on these types of decisions. The sale of Reyes marked, without a doubt, a before and after in the recent history of Sevilla. We all worked at that time with the same message. As the head of the first team, I understood it perfectly. We all went together. The president, Monchi and I,” Caparrós endorses.

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2023-11-08 04:15:00
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