Botafogo could join Nottingham Forest's club network

Evangelos Marinakis and John Textor are more than friends. Now, they're business partners. After all, the Greek tycoon will contribute financial aid to the Godfather's buyback of Botafogo 's shares. This will be the first step in strengthening the bond between the European billionaire and the majority shareholder of Glorioso's SAF. This move could put the Mais Tradicional in the same club network as Nottingham Forest in England. The topic is already on the agenda during meetings between the two bigwigs. They're discussing how to move forward together. This information comes from the website "ge."

Forest is part of the same group as Olympiacos (Greece) and Rio Ave (Portugal), clubs managed by Marinakis. Recently, in fact, the English and Brazilian clubs have been exchanging their "assets." Fogão sold center forward Igor Jesus and defender Jair to the Premier League club, which, in turn, loaned midfielder Danilo, formerly of Palmeiras , to Botafogo.

In the short term, however, Textor's mission is to separate Botafogo from Eagle Football Holding once and for all. To succeed, he relies on the support of Marinakis, who would become the American's creditor. The black and white boss wants to open a company (Eagle Football Group) in the Cayman Islands to continue managing Botafogo and RWDM Brussels, formerly Molenbeek. This company, in the Caribbean tax haven, would have the Greek as a minority partner.

Then, in the medium term, the businessmen would negotiate to include Botafogo in Marinakis's group. Textor would become the company's minority shareholder, however, with the guarantee of having the final say on decisions at the Mais Tradicional. The Greek therefore intends to keep the American, whom he admires, in the day-to-day running of the black and white club.

Textor vs. Eagle Executives

This Wednesday (30), Textor launched a proposal to purchase Botafogo together with Eagle Football Holdings and representatives of Ares Management.

In recent weeks, Ares representatives have attempted to remove him from the Alvinegro club's management. Furthermore, the businessman is competing with Iconic Sports for control of the holding company . Both companies are investment funds that provided significant funds for the purchase of Lyon, a club that has given the Godfather nothing but headaches.

In 2022, Textor purchased Botafogo's SAF for R$400 million. However, internally, it is understood that the club has evolved and is worth much more than that amount.

Audited and financially healthy organization

Recently, the American hired an auditing firm to try to determine how much the Alvinegro is worth. Last Saturday (27), Eagle consultants went to Nilton Santos Stadium at the businessman's invitation, watched the draw with Corinthians and checked the club's financial records. Textor showed them how the Glorioso could manage without Lyon and publicly stated that the Rio de Janeiro club is in good financial health.

Finally, Textor remains the owner of Eagle Football Holdings. Therefore, the negotiation is between the American and himself, but it's a buyback with Ares representatives. This is because, when he acquired Lyon, he offered the club's shares as collateral.

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