Real Madrid starlet Kylian Mbappe has only recently left France, having joined Los Blancos when his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expired, but he is already looking to return to French domestic sport.
According to Ouest France, the 25-year-old would become the majority shareholder of Ligue 2 club SM Caen, which is managed by MD. Mbappe will invest just under €20 million to acquire an 80% interest from American investment firm Oaktree. Pierre Antoine Capton, the current administrative president, owns the remaining 20%, and some of Mbappe’s acquisition price will be used to pay down the club’s debt.
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Mbappe and his mother, Fayza Lamari, plan to put Ziad Hammoud, the current head of Mbappe’s brand image team, as the next president. The latter nearly negotiated Mbappe’s transfer to Caen few years ago, but chose to go with AS Monaco instead.
Mbappe’s investment in Caen is undoubtedly the next step for his brand, and it’s perhaps not surprising that he’s following in David Beckham’s footsteps by purchasing a club. It is difficult to remember too many players who have genuinely taken over a club while still playing, and Mbappe may not have much to do with the running of the day-to-day, but it does demonstrate the gulf between football’s highest level and the more middle class of the pyramid.
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