Neel Shelat concludes his series on multi-club group pathways with a look at groups with several or more clubs operating at similar levels
The final piece in our Multi-Club Group Pathways series focuses on various sisterly and hybrid MCG models around the world. Sisterly models include clubs of similar statures, while hybrid models (such as City Football Group) combine that with elements of a hierarchical approach (such as Red Bull’s).
We have identified 10 prominent sisterly/hybrid models with clubs in close to 20 different leagues. Here are some observations and trends from their operations:
(Before we begin, some notes on the data collection and tagging for this series:
- MCGs are defined as clubs with a common owner. So, clubs in which MCG owners have minority stakes have been included, but clubs who only have partnerships have been excluded.
- Transfers between clubs have only been counted if completed in the period that they are/were in the same MCG.
- Loans that were later converted to permanent transfers have only been classified as permanent transfers.
- Similarly, free transfers have been classified as permanent transfers
- Unless explicitly excluded, transfers between second/youth teams have been included.)
Groupo Pachuca
Well before the idea of MCGs was frequently discussed in world football, Groupo Pachuca were one of a few small MCGs with multiple teams in Mexico. Besides CF Pachuca, this group currently includes Club León as well as second-tier outfit Tlaxcala, and previously also had Mineros de Zacatecas. They have since expanded to other parts of the world including Chile, Spain, and Uruguay through Everton de Viña del Mar, Real Oviedo, and Atenas de San Carlos respectively.
Over the last 15 years or so, Groupo Pachuca have orchestrated over 100 transfers between their clubs. The majority of these have been loans, especially from top-flight to second-tier clubs. In keeping with the general trends in Liga MX, most of their senior transfers have involved players in their late 20s to early 30s, so Groupo Pachuca have predominantly used their connections for short-term squad-building purposes besides developing some young talents. This season, for example, all of their senior squads combined have 12 players who have come from within the group.
Eagle Football Group
Whereas Groupo Pachuca have been quietly going about their business over the years, Eagle Football Group have certainly made many more headlines lately. Led by American businessman John Textor, they were the first foreign entity to gain ownership of a club in Brazil when they took over Botafogo in 2022. They also have majority stakes in Olympique Lyonnais and Belgian second-tier side RWD Molenbeek as well as a minority stake in Crystal Palace.
Interestingly, the lowest-ranked of these clubs has been the one involved in the most transfers. There is a good reason behind that, though, as squad-building rules in Belgium make it a great place for MCGs to send out players. A few Crystal Palace youngsters, including Jake O’Brien, Malcolm Ebiowei, and Luke Plange have spent seasons out on loan there. OL and Botafogo have sent over 20 players to Belgium in the last couple of years, the majority of whom have been loanees aged 23 or younger.
Additionally, Lyon and Botafogo have conducted some interesting business with each other. Ernest Nuamah’s arrival at Lyon raised eyebrows as Eagle signed him via RWDM by smashing the Belgian second tier’s transfer record, though he obviously never played for the club (much like Savinho’s move to Manchester City via Troyes). However, moves like Thiago Almada’s – who left MLS for Botafogo last summer with a promise of getting a move to Lyon in six months – might become a more common occurrence as more and more MCGs pop up in various places.
Pozzo Group
Much like Groupo Pachuca, the Pozzo Group have been relatively quietly been going about their business with an MCG setup for over a decade. Udinese and Watford are the two teams most commonly associated with them, though they previously also had Granada in their stable.
Within the years of Giampaolo Pozzo’s ownership of these three clubs alone, they have made close to 125 transfers across their clubs. Granada mostly received loanees when they were in the picture, but Udinese and Watford have very much had a sisterly relationship as a near-equal number of players have moved across those clubs, including a pretty even split of loans and permanent moves. However, there is some imbalance in terms of transfer fees paid as Udinese have paid over €60 million to Watford (for the likes of Gerard Deulofeu, Isaac Success, Maduka Okoye, Roberto Pereyra, and Stefano Okaka to name a few), but only five paid transfers have gone the other way. Interestingly, all but one of the paid transfers from England to Italy were made after seasons in which Watford were relegated or promoted. Certainly in theory, having a more stable sister in a league of a similar level offers a valuable safety net for a yo-yo club looking to take some investment risks on players.
On the whole, it would be fair to see the Pozzo Group in a similar light to Groupo Pachuca as their intra-MCG transfers have mostly focused on strengthening squads with a dash of youth development.
Pacific Media Group & NewCity Capital
Pacific Media Group & NewCity Capital were among the first groups to get people seriously talking about the prominence and potential of MCGs when they made big waves in various European markets. After making a profit on the sale of INEOS to Nice, they put together a very interesting portfolio largely comprising lower-tier teams from around the continent: Barnsley, FC Thun, KV Oostende, Nancy, Esbjerg, FC Den Bosch, and Kaiserslautern were all a part of the group.
Their “disruptive” approach initially yielded successful results in England but soon plummeted south due to a wide range of flaws and issues. The majority of their clubs all suffered relegations in the same season in 2021/22, and Oostende even had to file for bankruptcy in their wake.
For all their emphasis on player trading, it is interesting to note that they only sent seven players across their clubs on permanent transfers and loaned a further 10. Based on our analysis of Red Bull in particular, it would seem that they might have missed a big trick in this respect.
Others
As was the case in our analysis of hierarchical MCGs, there are many other groups that have sprung up quite recently. So, they have not had a lot of time to make too many waves just yet but should be ones to watch.
RedBird Capital are perhaps the most interesting name on the list. They surely have the potential to develop a good pathway between Toulouse and Milan, while they also have a minority stake in Liverpool. So far, though, the only move between any of those clubs has been Divock Origi’s free transfer to Italy in 2022. Over in the blue part of Merseyside, it will also be worth monitoring Everton’s relationship with Roma after the Friedkin Group’s takeover of the Toffees.
Elsewhere in England, West Ham United have done no business with Sparta Prague since Daniel Kretínský’s minority investment despite having a couple of Czech players in their squad. Sparta are one of the big dogs in a league that has a lot of potential, so a promising pathway could well be formed.
Crystal Palace are possibly the only club in the world with a foot in multiple MCGs at the moment. Besides Eagle Football Group, David Blitzer’s Global Football Holdings also have a minority stake in the club. The group includes Augsburg, Brøndby, Real Salt Lake, Portuguese side Estoril, Spanish lower-tier outfit Alcorcón, Belgian second-tier club Beveren and ADO Den Haag. They have only made a smattering of intra-MCG transfers altogether so far, though there certainly is a lot of potential to forge stronger partnerships between some of those sides.
Over in Mexico, Groupo Orlegi – who own Santos Laguna and Atlas – followed Groupo Pachuca in expanding to Spain in 2022. They took over Real Sporting de Gijón, who most notably sent Uroš Durdevic to Atlas last summer. Besides that, though, there has been just one other transfer between Sporting and the Mexican clubs.
Another European-North American connection exists between the Chicago Fire and FC Lugano, who are both owned by Joe Mansuto. They have exchanged a handful of players so far including striker Kacper Przybylko, who was playing a small part in Lugano’s shock title charge this season before suffering an ACL injury in January.
Finally, perhaps the most interesting MCG to follow in the coming years will be the Right to Dream Group. Besides FC Nordsjælland, they now own Egyptian second-tier side FC Masar and are entering Major League Soccer with expansion outfit San Diego FC. FCN have contributed a couple of players to San Diego FC’s first-ever squad by sending Marcus Ingvartsen and Jeppe Tverskov across. RTD’s heavily academy-driven and youth-focused approach has already yielded great results between Ghana and Denmark so far, so they should be backed to replicate that success elsewhere in the world.
Stats courtesy Transfermarkt and FotMob
Header image copyright IMAGO / PsnewZ / William Cannarella
