German expertise after takeover
©IMAGO
Serie A relegation candidate Hellas Verona is heading into the future with a new owner and a new sporting leadership – including plenty of German expertise. The US private equity company Presidio Investors has acquired 100 percent of Maurizio Setti’s shares. The entrepreneur managed the fortunes of Gialloblù for more than 13 years, but is now reportedly forced to make room due to financial entanglements.
The investor is committed to building on the foundation that Setti created during his tenure, the club’s official statement said. As a result of the takeover, more than half of the Serie A teams (eleven out of 20) are now majority foreign owned. A total of nine teams are owned or co-owned by people or companies from North America, including heavyweights such as Inter and AC Milan or AS Roma.
Verona’s new president also gained his first experience in football at the latter club. Italo Zanzi, chairman of the Giallorossi management board from the end of 2012 to 2016, takes over the reins from Setti, who will remain with the club in his new role as senior advisor for football and will support sports director Sean Sogliano. The New York-born entrepreneur and lawyer Zanzi, who once switched from football to handball and was a goalkeeper for the US national team, also worked for Fox Sports Asia and as a FIFA consultant, among other things, and was involved in the introduction of the CONCACAF Champions League involved.
“It is a great honor to join Hellas Verona, a club that embodies the passion and heritage of the city of Verona. We strive to honor the club’s rich traditions while working to strengthen its activities in all areas. We are fully aware of the responsibility that comes with acquiring the club. We look forward to supporting the staff, players, fans and the city of Verona in implementing a growth plan and working with them to increase the club’s competitiveness and reach its full potential,” explained Zanzi, who is seeking support from Germany brought on board.
Hellas Verona relies on German expertise around Hitzlsperger
In addition to Zanzi and Christian Puscasiu and Dirk Swaneveld, who belong to Presidio Investors, the new board of the 1985 champions consists of ex-DFB player Thomas Hitzlsperger, Donata Hopfen and Isabella Gräfin Thun-Hohenstein. Hitzlsperger knows calcio from a short interlude at Lazio in the first half of 2010. The 42-year-old worked for VfB Stuttgart as sports director and chairman of the board from 2019 to 2022. Since 2023, Hitzlsperger and his company Sports Strategy Excellence 22 have held around 20 percent of the shares in the Danish first division promoted team Aalborg BK.
Hopfen was the first woman to head the German Football League from the beginning of 2022, but she resigned from her position after just one year due to differences with the supervisory board over strategic direction. Thun-Hohenstein has already worked for UEFA and FIFA, among others, taking care of the implementation of commercial aspects of the Champions League or hospitality productions and ticketing. The new board consists of very important personalities who have knowledge in various areas that are seen as fundamental for the future growth of the club, Zanzi explained on Sunday on the sidelines of the home game against Lazio Rome (0:3).
Hellas Verona finishes 18th in the table. initially just about staying in the league in Serie A. Nevertheless, the commitment to Zanzi is a “very well thought out decision. We’re talking about a club, a city and a team that has everything it takes to be successful. So continuity is important for us. Maybe continuity in football isn’t very common, but we firmly believe in it.” That’s why the club continues to rely on coach Paolo Zanetti, even though 15 of 22 games were lost under him – average points: 0.86. “We learn something new every day. Confidence and composure come from the fact that we have a great team.”
With ex-Herthan player Suat Serdar (27) and Frankfurt loanee Faride Alidou (23), there are also two German professionals in the ranks of Hellas Verona, which is the only team in the bottom of the table alongside FC Empoli that has not yet made a move on the transfer market. “Which is very unusual, as Verona has always been one of the most active teams in recent years. A total of nine new players arrived in January 2024 and many of them played a key role in staying in the league. Presidio Investors are a blank slate in the football business, so it’s not yet known exactly what their plans are or how much money they might invest in the team. There’s not too much time left,” says Jatin Dietl, Area Manager Italy at Transfermarkt. The transfer window closes on February 3rd.