Among the five countries where the most important European championships are located, Paris is the only capital where only one club plays in the first division. Paris FC, current leader of Ligue 2, aims to reach the elite of French football at the end of the 2024-2025 season. In a few years, the meaning of the story and the information revealed by The teamWednesday, October 9, is that the PFC could aspire to qualify for the European Cup and, why not, compete with Paris Saint-Germain.
The club that currently occupies the Charléty stadium, in the south of Paris, will soon be bought by members of the Arnault family, owner of the LVMH group, and by the Austrian group Red Bull. According to our information, the Parisian club will make a communication on Thursday. According to one of its senior executives, LVMH does not wish to comment on the news at this time.
According the team, Pierre Ferracci, president and majority shareholder of the PFC, would initially retain 30% of the capital, before his planned departure in 2027. The manager had wanted to open the PFC’s capital to external investors for several months. The negotiations would have been led by Antoine Arnault, one of Bernard Arnault’s five children, who also actively participated in the recent partnership signed between LVMH and Formula 1.
Jürgen Klopp’s experience
Members of the Arnault family would invest in their personal capacity, and not through LVMH – although the luxury group could be required to sponsor the PFC – to become a majority shareholder in the club. Red Bull, for its part, would commit up to 15%. The Austrian group has significant experience in the world of football, having formed a group of several leading clubs on several continents.
Since acquiring two clubs in Salzburg and New York in 2005, Red Bull has increased its acquisitions and now owns seven teams. The group’s know-how in developing its teams and its young talents could allow PFC to quickly move up the standings. Especially since the Parisian club could count on the experience of Jürgen Klopp, former German coach of Liverpool, named global director of the Red Bull group on Wednesday.
With an ambitious signing in the transfer market last summer, PFC had already demonstrated its desire to join Ligue 1 as soon as possible. In recent seasons they had missed promotion to the first division on several occasions, failing four times in the elite promotion play-off matches. With the expected arrival of the Arnault family and Red Bull, the PFC has a bright future ahead of it.
