Crystal Palace could be the latest club to fall into Chinese ownership. There has been interest from Double Edged Sports (Desports), a Chinese marketing company that wants to acquire another football club after purchasing La Liga’s Granada last year.
Crystal Palace could be the latest club to fall into Chinese ownership. There has been interest from Double Edged Sports (Desports), a Chinese marketing company that wants to acquire another football club after purchasing La Liga’s Granada last year.
Desports has yet to made a formal bid, but intermediaries acting on behalf of Jiang Lizhang have approached David Blitzer and Josh Harris about buying their 36 per cent share of the club. Lizhang knows them through his involvement with the NBA: Desports have a stake in the Minnesota Timberwolves while the Americans own the Philadelphia 76ers.
It is unclear whether they would want to sell, having completed their investment in Crystal Palace in only December 2015. Steve Parish, the Palace chairman who owns 18 per cent of the club, has made it clear that he does not want to sell. Palace could, however, benefit from additional funds, in particular to modernise Selhurst Park.
Desports have held takeover talks with OH Leuven, a Belgian second division club and this year secured the rights to show the Champions League and the Europa League in China from 2018 to 2021.