European football’s investment map is being redrawn, and the consequences will not stop at the Premier League. Francesca Petriccione Di Vadi, an international sports-law specialist who has advised clubs in Serie A, England and Spain, sees the Friedkin family’s Everton exit and the Manchester City proceedings as signs of a wider change in the game’s financial order. For Italian clubs, the question is not simply who can buy a team, but what a club is expected to become once it has been bought.
Petriccione Di Vadi, who worked on Hellas Verona’s takeover by a private-equity fund last year, believes English football has entered a period of sharp transition after decades at the summit of the European market. In her view, the City case is only the most visible part of a deeper disruption. The Friedkins had followed a plan at Everton which, she suggested, did not reach its original objectives, and their attention may now turn elsewhere.
The Manchester City affair carries a political dimension as well as a sporting and regulatory one, she said, given the involvement of an Emirati sovereign wealth fund. She expects the case to mark an important moment for the Premier League, while stressing that City are not the only club facing scrutiny. Even a severe outcome, however, would not necessarily threaten the club’s long-term position. “Diplomatic dynamics will come into play,” she argued.
A changing investment logic
European football remains capable of attracting capital, but Petriccione Di Vadi believes investors are becoming more selective about the models they back. She pointed to Belgium’s Pro League as a competition drawing considerable interest, largely because of its work in youth recruitment, scouting and structured academy development. Her argument is that Belgium has built a pathway Italy has not developed with the same consistency.
Como, meanwhile, was presented as an Italian example of a club using substantial investment alongside a clear commercial identity. The capital injected into the club has been significant, but the strategy has also aimed to establish Como as a luxury brand with international recognition. In this vision, the team is only one part of a wider project tied to a city, its visitors and its image abroad.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund could yet return to continental Europe with another major acquisition, although the timing remains uncertain while its broader strategy is reviewed. Petriccione Di Vadi noted that Newcastle represented the first stage of that programme. At first, Saudi football needed to announce itself to a global audience and demonstrate that its league could compete, leading to heavy spending on established names nearing the end of their careers, such as Cristiano Ronaldo.
The second phase is different. The emphasis is now moving towards domestic prospects, academy systems, recruitment networks and younger players, with Mateo Retegui cited as an example of the newer profile. Petriccione Di Vadi expects sovereign wealth funds to increase their presence in European football. Their current share, which she placed at around 30 per cent, could rise to 50 per cent in the coming years because the available resources are so extensive.
For Serie A, the most important structural shift may be the rise of multi-club ownership. Petriccione Di Vadi expects it to become the dominant corporate model within roughly 18 months, even if the subject is still discussed relatively little in Italy. She described it as a trend likely to shape the next decade, allowing groups to centralise data and reduce the loss of information and talent across separate organisations.
That development would further reduce the space for the traditional owner who bought a club primarily out of personal attachment. Modern football, in her reading, treats the club as an asset whose first requirement is financial sustainability. The era of owners making emotionally driven signings in the manner of Massimo Moratti bringing Ronaldo to Inter will become increasingly unusual.
Future investment, she said, will be tied to projects beyond the pitch: hospitality, hotels, stadium redevelopment, concerts and the broader fan experience. Verona could become attractive not only for its football operation, but for a plan built around those commercial opportunities. Como offers a version of that direction already taking shape, where the club’s value is connected to more than results on Sunday afternoon.
Petriccione Di Vadi also reflected on her own experience in a profession still heavily dominated by men. She said she had encountered no difficulty working in Saudi Arabia, while finding the environment more challenging in Italy. Rather than discouraging her, she considers that challenge an additional incentive.
