John Textor, the controversial former owner of Crystal Palace, has reportedly tabled a £400million bid to purchase Wolves, amidst growing discontent amongst fans towards the current owners at Molineux. Wolves are currently the only team in the Premier League, and indeed across the top six divisions of English football, yet to secure a win this season.
Following an injury-time defeat to Burnley on Sunday, the Wolves find themselves languishing at the bottom of the league table, six points away from safety. After the final whistle, home supporters were heard voicing their displeasure against Fosun, the club’s owners since 2016, and directing chants of ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’ towards head coach Vitor Pereira.
According to The Athletic, Textor, who offloaded a minority stake in Crystal Palace earlier this year, is eager to add the Wolves to his multi-club group portfolio. Reports suggest that he has put forward an offer comprising £150m cash and an additional £262.6m in shares to acquire the club.
Textor currently holds stakes in Brazilian outfit Botafogo, French side Lyon, and Belgium’s RWDM Brussels. The American businessman is said to be fond of Wolves’ long-standing policy of recruiting Portuguese players, aligning with the Eagle Football Group’s (EFG) strategy of introducing South American talent to the European market.
Despite these developments, sources within Wolves maintain that the club is not for sale, but rather seeking external investment.
Textor’s bid for Wolves coincided with a Brazilian court ruling that his decision to step down as club president at Lyon, in order to protect Botafogo, had to be reversed. Textor managed to prevent an administrative relegation to Ligue 2 for Lyon in the summer, thereby maintaining his position as a key decision-maker in France.
It is believed that he continues to be the majority shareholder at EFG, which is Lyon’s parent company.
Additionally, there is an ongoing legal dispute with primary lender Ares Management, who are attempting to recover the $425m (£320m) they lent to Textor for the purchase of Lyon three years ago. Negotiations are underway to reach a resolution, which would result in Textor keeping Botafogo and Ares taking over Lyon.
There is also another disagreement with EFG’s shareholders, Iconic Sports Eagle Investment, who believe they had an insurance policy for their $75m investment in EFG. This policy would allow Textor to repurchase Iconic’s EFG shares at a predetermined price if his plan to take EFG public failed.
In 2023, it did fail, and Textor did not buy back the shares within the agreed 12-month period.
In the week following his failed attempt to acquire Wolves, a Florida court dismissed Textor’s plea to have the case heard in the UK, given that EFG is a British company.
This was succeeded by his appearance at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in a separate dispute involving Atlanta United and Major League Soccer over transfer payments for Thiago Almada, who had moved from Atlanta to Botafogo before signing with Atlético Madrid.
On Friday, 17 October, an English court rejected Textor’s bid to dismiss Iconic’s claim, valued at £70m. A full trial is set to occur next year.
This series of events follows the American businessman losing two cases in Belgium, where he accused former RWDM Brussels’ owner, Thierry Dailly, of fraud. He is also facing legal proceedings from ex-Wolves and Botafogo manager Bruno Lage over potential job offers within EFG.
