June 30 – World Cup winner and new Al-Ittihad signing N’Golo Kanté is investing in Belgian third-division club Royal Excelsior Virton.
On July 1, the former Chelsea player will take over the club from current owner Flavio Becca.
“Driven by his passion for football, N’Golo Kanté’s aim is to continue structuring the club with a view to consolidating its foundations, stabilising the staff and ultimately reviving RE Virton’s tradition of training through its youth academy,” the club said in a statement, headlined ‘Small town, big dreams!’
Earlier this month, the French midfielder moved to Saudi Arabia to play for Al-Ittihad where he will earn €100 million a year.
After years of struggling in the second division, Virton finished 12th and last in the league last season and were relegated to the amateur level, prompting Becca to search for a new owner. Kanté reportedly visited Virton’s facilities a couple of months ago. The reasons why Kanté invested in Virton, a tiny village near the French and Luxembourg borders, is not clear.
In 2021, Becca, an entrepreneur from Luxembourg, was sentenced to two years in prison and fined €250,000 for abuse of company assets. Becca had kept about 900 luxury watches, with an estimated value of €18 million, in his private safe.
Kanté won the World Cup with France in 2018 and the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021. He twice won the Premier League, first with Leicester City in 2016 and the following year with Chelsea.
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