Sources: Man City chiefs to swerve repeat of Dutch disaster amid takeover talks update
Man City parent company City Football Group’s imminent takeover of Bahia is being met with no resistance by supporters, sources have told Football Insider.
The multi-club empire are confident that they will avoid a repeat of the fan backlash that forced them to abandon a takeover of Dutch side NAC Breda earlier this year.
Supporter approval is a pre-requisite as Bahia‘s Socios – fee-paying club members – are represented by a 105-member deliberative council whose assent is needed to ratify the deal.
CFG, who own 11 clubs worldwide, had an agreement in place to buy NAC for around £6m in April but the acquisition was vetoed by supporters under the golden share mechanism.
Football Insider revealed on Tuesday (11 October) that CFG are waiting on Bahia officials to finalise their in-house checks and balances ahead of an announcement soon.
Sources have now told this site that key supporter groups have been consulted as part of the negotiations and that the “general feeling is one of enthusiasm”.
There is excitement about fresh investment in infrastructure and the transfer market, and fans have looked at the models of soon-to-be CFG bedfellows New York City and Mumbai City as a blueprint for success.
Bahia prides itself on being one of Brazil’s most inclusive clubs and there were initial concerns about how a takeover financed by Abu Dhabi, where homosexuality is punishable by death, would play with fans.
But LGBTQ+ supporter groups, most notably the influential LGBTricolour, have also given the nod to a deal which they hope will help the club disrupt Brazil’s traditional Big Twelve clubs.
Bahia, who regularly record attendances of over 30,000, were relegated last season and currently occupy 3rd place in Serie B.
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