The Chinese to buy legendary Hungarian football team?!
According to the most recent news, the Belgian owner of the Hungarian football team Újpest – currently playing in NB I – has been negotiating with a Chinese investor for months. The agreement is already close to being finalised, and the purchase price would be EUR 20 million (HUF 7.2 billion).
Currently, the purple-white Újpest has a Belgian owner, Roderick Duchatelet, who has recently become extremely unpopular among the fans due to the poor performance of the team. According to Goal.com, Újpest is in last place in NB I, after scoring just two points in five rounds, and the team’s performance is disappointing in several aspects as it has not been able to win a single match recently. In addition, the purple-white fans continue to protest against the Belgian owner: they have been silent, and there is no organised support at the Szusza Ferenc Stadium as the team still does not play with its traditional coat of arms on its chest, but it uses a hybrid solution.
However, now it seems that Duchatelet, who has been the owner of the Hungarian football team for years, will hand over his position.
The Belgian owner has been negotiating with a Chinese company for months. The agreement is already close to being finalised, and the purchase price would be EUR 20 million (HUF 7.2 billion).
Újpest would not be the first club in Europe to be run by a Chinese owner. The Italian Internazionale, the Czech Sparta Praha, as well as the leading English teams Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton are all managed by a Chinese businessman.
The news was also confirmed by some of the players of Újpest, adding that
the team would like the former goal king, Péter Rajczi, to return to his beloved club as a sports director.
”From rumours, I’ve heard that my name has come up as a potential sports director. Officially, however, I have not yet received any offers. Of course, I would be happy to fill the position. I would like to work as a sports leader, I have completed the necessary training for this, I recently obtained my second degree,” commented Rajczi to the Hungarian news portal Blikk.
Chinese people living in Hungary are happy about the recent news. A local student also described how Asian fans could encourage the purple-white Újpest team. Here is the solution: 加油 紫色 (Let’s go purples!).
Source: blikk.hu; goal.com