CM EXCLUSIVE: Pippo Russo on the Nelio Lucas interview
The Malta-based fund has also been forced to change its image since the introduction of anti-Third Party Ownership in football (as part of FIFA circular 1464). From a TPO fund, Doyen is now trying (unsuccessfully, we would add) to promote itself as a global football and brokering consultancy for clubs.
This would explain yesterday evening’s exclusive Nelio Lucas interview with French paper Liberation, which has sent shockwaves through the football world by touching on a number of very sensitive subjects.
Let’s begin with the Gianelli Imbula deal, shall we? Experts have always suspected that Doyen had been involved in that transfer, something only confirmed later on by Football Leaks. Lucas himself, however, has been much more ambiguous, not to mention evasive. Many websites have taken his words to mean that Doyen had a hand (in fact, had provided 50% of the transfer fee) in financing Porto’s €20 million move for the young Franco-Belgian talent, then playing for Marseille and in demand among Europe’s elite, which included strong interest from Inter Milan.
But if you read the relevant passage carefully, you notice something interesting: “Without Doyen, Gianelli would have never moved to Porto… Porto could only offer OM €10 million, but they found €10 million more.”
And again: “When OM told me that Imbula would cost €20 million, I knew it would be impossible for Porto. I found that sum, those €20 million Euros, and I told Porto’s ownership: ‘He’s very expensive, but he’s a good investment, I’m sure that he’ll prove to be a great deal’”.
Wait, what? How do you go from “Porto found €10 million more” to “I found that €20 million”? Even better, nowhere does Nelio Lucas say that Doyen financed the deal. He speaks of himself, or of Porto, never of a sum of money paid to the Dragons in exchange for a stake in a future sale, which would be prohibited by new TPO laws. Rather, Lucas is alluding (rather vaguely) to financing the club, with an interest rate being agreed upon by the two clubs. Something that would not contravene FIFA’s rules.
So what has Lucas said? That he was the Deus Ex Machina behind a major deal, something that can be attributed to a new communication strategy, an autumn campaign if you will. What’s so special about it is that Marseille are repeatedly referenced, a club many suspect to be a part of Doyen’s network, citing former Spanish coach Michel’s hiring as Les Phoceens’ new coach after Marcelo Bielsa’s departure. The same Michel who, you’ve guessed it, is reportedly close to DSI.
Until yesterday, Doyen had denied any involvement, even going as far as publishing an official communique on September 11th (here’s the PDF) to confirm that the fund hasn’t invested in Marseille.
Lucas’ reaction? To say that OM is one of the “clubs he loves”, like Seville and Atletico Madrid, hardly strangers to the TPO controversy themselves. And by the way, a lack of investment doesn’t automatically exclude the possibility of influencing a club.
How? For a start, Lucas’ protestations that OM won’t bring in any Doyen players as long as Michel is manager…is false. What about Abdelaziz Barrada, a DSI “player investment” who found his way to Ligue 1 after moving from Getafe to Al Jazeera? What about Lucas’ statement that it took him “two minutes” to bring former Porto (surprise surprise) player Rolando to Marseille after spending a season with Anderlecht, who are under Luciano D’Onofrio, who just so happens to a friend of Lucas’?
Are these just details? What about the shot taken at Jean-Michel Aulas, who has been critical of investment funds over the past few weeks? We can imagine the OL president’s mirth when Mister Lucas chose to show his interviewer a screen’s worth of calls… from Aulas himself. Also of note is a passage in which a message to Jorge Mendes is shows, asking his former friend to reconcile.
The timing of the interview is interesting: no doubt influenced by FIFA’s numerous scandals, Lucas may well have been pushed to act by news – published in the past few days by Bloomberg– that FIFA are launching an inquiry into Eliaquim Mangala’s controversial move from Porto to Manchester City. Another move that just so happened to involve both DSI and D’Onofrio. Oh,and Juventus fans have also been given reason to worry by Lucas’ claims that he is “friends” with the club.
Sleep tight, football fans, who knows whose name will be dropped tomorrow?
Pippo Russo
@pippoevai
Translated by Edo Dalmonte
@edodalmonte
