January 31 – Chinese conglomerate Suning Group has made a €9 million offer to acquire Belgian top flight club Royal Mouscron-Péruwelz.
During the last 18 months the Maltese firm Latimer, owned by football agents Fali Ramadani and Pini Zahavi, have been in charge at Mouscron. The agents used the club as a platform to showcase young talented players but plan backfired as Mouscron struggled both on and off the pitch.
Poor results have left the club battling relegation while commercially there has been no growth and the club has operated with a limited budget.
The club narrowly escaped relegation last season, but under the Suning Group would be better financed to avoid the drop. The on-going negotiations have been described as progressing well by local Belgian media.
The Chinese have also been courting Portuguese club Gil Vicente, fueling speculation that Mouscron was chosen because of Belgium’s flexible legal framework for non-EU players. The Suning Group would likely be interested in developing Chinese players at Mouscron.
At the weekend Mouscron won a crucial match 3-0 against Qatari-owned Eupen to maintain hopes of escaping relegation. On 18 points after 24 match days Mouscron are the red lantern in the Belgian league. The Walloon club are in a dogfight with Westerlo, Waasland-Beveren and Eupen to stay up. They are coached by the Romanian Mircea Rednic.
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