We recently learned of the takeover of Paris Football Club by the Agachegroup , a holding company controlled by Bernard Arnault as majority shareholder, and by Red Bull as minority shareholder. Antoine Arnault, representing Agache, spoke to Le Figaro about his relationship with Paris Saint-Germain. He expressed his admiration for the capital’s other club and the work done by Nasser Al-Khelaïfi. He recalled the club’s first objective, to climb up the Ligue 1 table, before settling in for the long haul to battle it out for a place in Europe every year.
Arnault “ You’ll never hear me say a negative word about Paris SG”
“If the ambition is to dethrone PSG? I’ve been a PSG fan since I was 12, so you’ll never hear me say a negative word about Paris SG. It would be presumptuous of us to imagine that we could rival PSG. Nasser (Al-Khelaïfi, president of the Paris club) has built something extraordinary, and the previous shareholders had put in place an ultra-solid base.
Arnault “Our first objective is to achieve a fine Ligue 2 season”.
Today, PSG is one of the top three clubs in the world in terms of valuation, insisted the CEO of Christian Dior SE. Our first objective is to have a good season in Ligue 2 and to move up to Ligue 1. Then, when I hope we’re in L1, we need to create a club that stays in the elite and establishes itself there. Then, hopefully, we’ll be able to grab European places on a regular basis.“
Having two Paris clubs in the elite would be great news. In all the major footballing countries, big cities often have two clubs, and France is an exception. To see Paris FC move up would be logical from now on, with a power grab that makes people react and excites them.
Antoine Arnault’s words on PSG are powerful. He loves the club and will be battling it out with a player, perhaps in Ligue 1, but he’s well aware that there’s a lot of work to be done. We’ll be keeping a close eye on this second club from the capital, with potentially some good derbies in store. If Paris FC can be competitive, then PSG and Ligue 1 will be the better for it.
