Alan Pardew: US investment at Crystal Palace will not boost transfer funds
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Version 0 of 1. Alan Pardew does not expect the investment of £100m by the American billionaires Joshua Harris and David Blitzer to have a sizeable impact on the makeup of the Crystal Palace squad because the majority of the money will be spent on club infrastructure, in particular renovating Selhurst Park. Harris and Blitzer are set to buy 18% of the club each, though the chairman, Steve Parish, will remain in control of decision-making despite reducing his stake from 25% to 18%. It is understood some paperwork is yet to be finalised but confirmation of the deal is expected soon. Harris and Blitzer, who own and control the private equity firm Apollo Global Management, are worth around $2.4bn according to Forbes. They own the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and ice hockey team New Jersey Devils. Related: Crystal Palace’s Jason Puncheon: ‘All that time in the lower leagues made me more determined’ The remainder of Palace will be owned by a combination of other US-based investors, while the existing owners from the CPFC2010 consortium – Stephen Browett, Jeremy Hosking and Martin Long – will retain involvement. An exact breakdown of the stakes held by them is unclear. What is certain, though, is Parish’s intention is for the money to be spent on improving Selhurst Park and investing in the club’s academy. Pardew, who has met Harris and Blitzer, does not predict a large amount of the money to trickle down to his transfer budget and suggested one or two fringe players may instead be trimmed when the transfer market re-opens next month. “I have to understand that the stadium is an important part of this investment, I get that but I don’t think it’s going to impact too much on the transfer kitty I’m going to get. We’ll be still on the same lines we pretty much were on,” the manager said. Discussions between Parish and the new investors had been continuing for more than a year and Pardew said he was impressed by their vision. “I’ve been involved to some degree with Josh and David. We’ve met and I’ve seen their passion for this club. It has grown over the last 18 months and goes alongside the passion the chairman and myself have for this club. We hope, together, that we can embark on a new era.” That new era has been on the horizon since before Pardew’s arrival from Newcastle in January. Parish maintaining control of the decision process was the crucial point in negotiations and Pardew suggested he would not remain as manager if that stipulation was not enforced. “The investment was on the agenda but it wasn’t by any means a deal that was ratified in any way. There were very strong feelings that the guys would come on board and I needed to be part of that, to understand what Steve Parish’s vision was for the club. If it wasn’t that vision that he sold me, I probably wouldn’t be here. Steve Parish deserves a lot of credit, to get us into this position where we have this kind of backing.” “The important point really in Steve’s position during negotiations was that the slight nuances in the game are understood by Steve and I can get a message to him – sometimes it’s not easy to translate to people who don’t understand the Premier League. “If he can filter through all the information to them to make sense of it all and make sensible decisions at a low-risk factor. That’s something we have done well at this club. We’ve signed players that are at the right money and right time. That’s why we have such a good squad. It’s very strong.” It is unlikely to grow stronger in the near future. “I don’t see me doing too much business in January. We probably have a little surplus that needs trimming, one or two who might go on loan or move out. Certainly we don’t want to lose our key players because they – Yannick Bolasie, Scott Dann – are driving the club forward. “The environment is very strong here, but the most important factor is we are under no pressure financially. So when a club does come to talk to us about one of our star performers, the will have to drive a very hard bargain and really twist our wrist. It’s something we might not decide to do at the end of the day. We are in a very fortunate position.” The stadium expansion is likely to be more in line with Liverpool’s rebuilding of the main stand than a complete rebuild akin to Tottenham Hotspur and White Hart Lane. It is understood Parish’s desire is for the ground to remain functional during building work but Pardew is not expecting dramatic nor immediate changes to how the club is run. “It’ll be for the next six months for Josh and David to get their feet under the table and understand how the club works and what they are going to bring to the party,” Pardew said. “They will bring experience from other sports and managing clubs bigger than ourselves, so for that reason it will be shared knowledge that we will take into the summer. Of course the backing will mean improvements to our ground– that’s something very important to take the club forward.” |