Franck Ribéry and Salerno must already love 2022. A few hours to celebrate the New Year, the Salernitana club where the French striker plays was entitled to the best possible gifts. Plagued by a Serie A withdrawal because being possessed by the same owner as Lazio Rome (Claudio Lotitio), the promoted got his salvation on Friday night. As announced by the famous Italian daily la Gazzetta dello Sport, a buyout offer was accepted in the last moments of 2021 and within the deadline set to remedy this situation, which is prohibited in the regulations of the Italian championship.
“In accordance with the terms of the trust deed (transfer of property, editor’s note), yesterday at midnight, the administrators informed the Federation via e-mail that they had accepted an irrevocable offer to purchase the shares of Salernitana“, the Federation told AFP.
The new owner of the Salernitana is Daniele Iervolino, 43, a Neapolitan entrepreneur new to the world of football. “It is with great emotion that I announce that I have acquired the Salernitana 1919“, Iervolino told the Gazzetta Dello Sport, specifying that he “would do anything to maintain [le club] in Serie AThe future manager of the Garnet club now has 45 more days to finalize the sale and ensure his presence in the league after mid-February.
Salernitana, Danilo Iervolino nuovo proprietario: conferma dalla FIGC https://t.co/gGJq1kCaxV
– La Gazzetta dello Sport (@Gazzetta_it) December 31, 2021
The club promoted to Serie A had obtained its engagement in the championship, in return for its sale within six months, a period that the administrators of the club had wished to extend, for lack of buyer for long weeks. The Italian Football Federation refused this request, putting their backs to the wall on the leaders of Salernitana.
Daniele Iervolino now faces a new challenge: helping his new team to stay in the top flight of Italian football. It is currently in 20th place in Serie A, with eight small points collected in mid-season (one game late) and eight lengths behind Spezia, the first non-relegation. The new owner of the Salernitana (against 10 million euros, according to the transalpine press) will invest 20 million euros to strengthen the workforce this winter and allow the club to maintain itself sportingly, after having torn the one behind the scenes.
“In all my projects I have always put a lot of enthusiasm and this will also happen in this football project, reacted Iervolino. I am in love with Salerno, I want to build a relationship of osmosis with the city. I will focus on the young people and the growth of the club.“