Football
9y

Iranian businessman Hossein Hedayati claims he is set to take over Getafe

Iranian businessman Hossein Hedayati says he has an initial agreement to buy La Liga club Getafe.

Hedayati -- known to some as "the Iranian Roman Abramovich" -- has previously been involved in football in his home country, and now says he wants to invest in a European club.

The steel magnate told Marca that early talks with Getafe's current owner Angel Torres had gone well and a takeover process has begun.

"[Getafe] is one of the four clubs in Madrid -- the third of those," Hedayati said. "It is a mid-table team, which is always good to try and bring through young players. I do not have much information about their players, but I can say I have had some meetings with the club's executive director in Tehran.

"In the initial negotiations we have reached an agreement and we have signed it, but when I travel to Spain [in November] I will see the financial state of the club and I hope that is positive."

Getafe are thought to be heavily in debt, with financial issues having led to high-earning midfielder Pedro Leon not being included in the official squad for the current season.

Hedayati said he is aware there are financial issues at the club, but he is planning for a high-profile Iranian coaching team to help turn the situation around.

"I know the club has some debts," he said. "We will bring our financial experts to Spain, and also technical experts like Mehdi Mahdavikia, who played in the Bundesliga, and Vahid Hashemian, an ex-Bayern Munich player. We had planned to bring Ali Karimi, but at the moment he is busy as Carlos Queiroz's assistant [with the Iran national team].

"I also want to do something for my country and for the people of Madrid and Iran. We want to help the children grow while teaching them to play football. Just being in La Liga isn't enough, I want to be successful."

Hedayati, who is reportedly worth 2.5 billion euros, previously invested significantly in Iranian giants Persepolis.

In 2007, Hedayati took over a club previously known as Ekbatan, which was then renamed as Steel Azin.

The club was also called "FC Hollywood" by local media amid big-name player and coaching signings, although they enjoyed little success on the pitch. They now play in the Iranian third tier, and have moved base from Tehran to Semnan.

Getafe was the subject of a well-publicised takeover attempt by a Dubai-based group, and Torres travelled to the Middle East in 2011 to meet the supposed potential purchasers.

However, a deal was never completed, and reports subsequently claimed that the involvement of Catalan fraudsters in the takeover attempt was being investigated.

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