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American business magnate Rocco Commisso is reportedly set to buy AC Milan after it appears that the ownership of Yonghong Li has come to an end after he missed a payment, paving the way for a takeover.
Commisso is reportedly working with Goldman Sachs in order to secure the funding to purchase Milan, looking to outpace a rival bid from Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts.
Multiple sources state Rocco Commisso is leading the race to take over #ACMilan ahead of Tom Ricketts https://t.co/fybbF8WsUm #NYCosmos pic.twitter.com/qQ9x5Y7Iet
— footballitalia (@footballitalia) June 23, 2018
Reports indicate that the Italian-born American businessman Rocco Commisso, who also owns the New York Cosmos FC, has apparently put aside his fandom of Juventus in order to attempt to buy the club from Li.
Commisso moved from Calabria to the United States when he was 12 years-old and has called his rise a version of “The American Dream,” coming from poverty to become the founder and CEO of cable company Mediacom. While at Columbia University, where he earned both a bachelor and master’s degree, he was co-captain of the soccer team and the University’s soccer stadium is named the Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium in his honor.
Besides being a successful businessman, Commisso is currently the owner of the New York Cosmos, which is currently playing in the lower division league the NPSL, after the NASL, a league that this edition of the club helped found, is on hiatus. The club considers itself the heir to the high-flying team of the original NASL era.
Commisso in the past has stated that he would only be interested in owning part of Juventus, as he grew up a fan of the Turin-based club, saying:
There have been calls to me from Pescara, Palermo, Catania, Reggina. Do you know why I turned them down? Because I am a loyal fan of Juventus since my youth playing soccer in the sandy beaches of Calabria.
I have met the Agnelli, the Juventus owners, but frankly, they don’t need my money. My proposal to Juventus was not to buy the team. I wanted to do something similar to when Gadhafi from Libya bought a piece of Juventus 20-30 years ago.
I truly would love, before I go bye-bye for good, to be able to say that I am the largest minority owner of Juventus: not to run it, because I think the Agnelli are phenomenal people and they’ve done a great job in leading Juventus to one of the top clubs in the world.
Perhaps he’s changed his mind and wishes to purchase Milan in order to restore the famous club to its rightful place on top of Serie A, but it might get a little awkward if he’s wearing a Juventus scarf in the owner’s box.