I Want To Buy A Foreign Football Club, Maybe In Italy Or England, Ħamrun Spartans Boss Reveals
Ħamrun Spartans president Joseph Portelli has revealed he plans to buy a professional foreign football club, perhaps in the English or Italian leagues.
Addressing a press conference, Portelli admitted the Maltese league champions are finding it tough to attract top-quality foreign players at the start of their career, despite the attractive wages on offer.
“Players aged 22-23 who are showing peak potential won’t come to Malta, even if we offer them higher wages than they have at their current clubs. They don’t come here because they won’t be able to promote themselves as much, our league and population are limited, and our media viewership is what it is.”
“As a president, it’s a shame that I’m unable to bring in players who are much better than our current foreigners. It’s not enough to have money and then you can just get who you want. That’s where we’re getting stuck and I must find a solution.”
Portelli said his current plan involves purchasing a professional football club, at the level of Italy’s Serie C, England’s EFL League Two or above.
Although he didn’t expand on how this will help Ħamrun Spartans achieve its dream of securing Champions League or Europa League football, he said the plan is for the Maltese club to become the “backbone” of this second foreign club.
He added that his acquisition of this club will also provide serious opportunities for Maltese players seeking to advance their careers overseas.
“I am here to make history,” Portelli confidently said. “In my work [as a developer] I managed to build Malta’s tallest tower [Mercury Towers]. People said it would fail but I have now gone down in history as the late George Fenech, God rest his soul, had before me.”
Cover photo: Ħamrun Spartnas
Tag a Ħamrun Spartans fan!
READ NEXT: Malta Premier League Kicks Off This Thursday With 200 Vaccinated Fans Per Sector
