According to Spanish media, Hollywood star George Clooney could be about to join the world of football ownership. Reportedly, a group associated with the 58-year-old actor have entered negotiations with Abdullah Al-Thani to sell his shares of Spanish second division club Malaga for around 100m euros (£83.6m).
Small Shareholders Association (APA) president Antonio Aguilera informed Canal Malaga that the group, who are American, are “in negotiations” with Al-Thani. He went on to say the group want to turn Malaga into the “European Hollywood”.
“There is a powerful production company here in Málaga,” said Aguilera. “They want to turn Málaga into the ‘European Hollywood’ and they are filming series here on the south coast for Amazon and are already negotiating with the club.
Hollywood in the Prem?
“However, they do not want to pay the crazy sum Al-Thani is asking for. A fortnight ago, he was asking 100 million euros for Málaga.
“What they are prepared to offer is much more than the amount he paid for the club (36 million euros) and talks are ongoing. On Friday, they called the Americans to say they were willing to negotiate.”
Then, the report in AS goes on to say that the production company want to begin filming a 24-hour series that focusing on life around the club – something similar to The Truman show.
The takeover, should they be able to complete it, won’t be as simple as a mere takeover. Malaga are currently in administration. To add to that, the Al-Thani have a number of civil cases going on, including an ownership dispute with a hotel chain.
For a sale of Malaga to go through, the Al-Thani family would have to pay a £5m judicial bond mandated by the courts in its decision to remove them from their every day managerial duties.
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