Stephen Pagliuca has a decision to make over his co-ownership of Atalanta, with the deadline for the Chelsea takeover looming. Any interested parties have until 10pm on Thursday evening to submit all of their official bids and necessary documentation to Raine group
Pagliuca is firmly among the contenders to become Roman Abramovich ’s successor at Stamford Bridge and will certainly hope to fight-off competition from the Ricketts family, as well as consortiums spearheaded by Todd Boehly and Sir Martin Broughton. With just a few hours to set out his future intentions, he has been pictured giving some attention to Atalanta supporters ahead of their key Europa League clash with German side RB Leipzig.
In pictures obtained by TuttoAtalanta, Pagliuca was shown saluting supporters ahead of kick-off, adorned with a scarf bathed in the blue and black of the Atalanta home shirt. He was reportedly alongside historic club patron Luca Percassi.
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Pagliuca has been a co-owner of the Italian outfit since obtaining a 55% stake in the club in February. That move could potentially scupper hopes of securing a deal for Chelsea, with UEFA rules not allowing stakeholders to have an interest or influence in multiple UEFA clubs due a potential conflict of interest.
Article 5 of the Regulations of the UEFA Champions League state that no club participating in any UEFA-run competition be involved or ‘have any power management, administration and/or sporting performance of any other club participating in a UEFA club competition’. Meanwhile, similar regulations also prevent any individuals from any involvement or indeed being shareholders in two UEFA clubs at any one time.
Despite that, Pagliuca has confirmed that he intends to still hold a stake in the Italians, in what will surely reassure Atalanta supporters, although it is unclear how he will do this if he is part of the successful bid for Chelsea.
In a written statement, he said: “We wish to reaffirm the commitment of our family and partners to Atalanta and our partnership with the Percassi family. We are long-term partners and we are excited to continue the success of the club.”
