FC Nantes entered the political chamber on Friday, with the club’s possible sale raising questions far beyond the pitch. Nantes Métropole made clear that it has not been approached by either Waldemar Kita’s club or any prospective buyer, while drawing firm lines around La Beaujoire and the club’s training base.
Key takeaways
- Nantes Métropole has received no contact from FC Nantes or any potential purchaser over a takeover process.
- Opposition councillor Foulques Chombart de Lauwe raised concerns about a possible bid led by former agent Paulo Tavares.
- The local authority owns both La Beaujoire stadium and La Jonelière, FC Nantes’ training and administrative complex.
- Any change to the land around La Beaujoire would require an amendment to the metropolitan planning rules.
- Officials do not foresee either a major stadium redevelopment or FC Nantes leaving La Beaujoire.
Metropolitan authority sets limits around club assets
The issue was raised during Nantes Métropole’s council meeting by Chombart de Lauwe, an elected member of the right-wing LR opposition. He said the possibility of a sale was troubling supporters in the city, particularly amid talk of a project headed by Paulo Tavares whose financial backing remains unclear.
Addressing Johanna Rolland, the Socialist mayor of Nantes and president of the metropolitan authority, Chombart de Lauwe asked what future the city wanted for its football club.
Emmanuel Terrien, the vice-president responsible for sport and sporting facilities, responded that the authority had no formal role in deciding the identity of a future owner. FC Nantes is a private company, he said, and Nantes Métropole cannot choose who acquires it.
Terrien added that, should ownership change, the authority would meet the new investors to discuss their sporting plans. For now, however, there has been no approach from the club in relation to a potential transaction and no contact from any bidder.
La Beaujoire remains the fixed point
The metropolitan authority also underlined its control over the sites that frame FC Nantes’ daily life. It owns La Beaujoire, where the Canaries play, as well as La Jonelière, the club’s training and administrative centre.
Terrien said that any alteration involving the land at La Beaujoire would need changes to the local urban planning framework. Such a move is not being considered now or in the near future.
Having invested heavily in the stadium, Nantes Métropole intends for La Beaujoire to remain a major public facility. The authority is not contemplating a large-scale renovation, nor does it envisage FC Nantes moving away from the ground under a future ownership group.
That position closes off, for the moment, the kind of stadium departure once sought by Kita through the YelloPark project. That plan was ultimately abandoned, and La Beaujoire remains the immovable part of an uncertain ownership picture.
