As if Vincent Tan didn't have enough on his plate with Cardiff City, he is now looking to sell one of his other clubs, Belgian outfit KV Kortrijk.
That is the prevailing wisdom across the continent, anyway, with reports rife in recent weeks that Tan is looking to sell up with Burnley, Bournemouth, Newcastle and American investors the Kaminski Group all said to be interested in acquiring the Jupiler Pro team.
Tan bought KVK back in 2015, but it's safe to say the club have not hit the heights they would have hoped during his tenure. Just this most recent season, like Cardiff, Kortrijk were fending off relegation. Tan sacked manager Adnan Čustović in November, just two months after letting Steve Morison go and two months before relieving Mark Hudson of his duties.
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Current KVK manager Bernd Storck is also set to leave at the end of the season, while Cardiff are currently also rudderless, with the club having announced that Sabri Lamouchi would not be handed a new contract to take the Bluebirds into the 2023/24 campaign.
That, coupled with Matthias Leterme, the CEO, and Ronny Verhelst, the president, points to a very blurred and chaotic picture in Kortrijk. A quite familiar picture for Cardiff fans, to say the least.
So, we sought some clarity to see what was actually going on. We spoke to Flemish newspaper Het Nieuwsblad's Kortrijk correspondent Elian Coussement about the feeling from the fans towards Tan, the current situation and what's really going on with his reported attempts to sell the Belgian side...
Q. How is Vincent Tan viewed by KV Kortrijk supporters?
"When Vincent Tan arrived at KV Kortrijk in 2015, he was regarded as some kind of a 'saviour'. Supporters thought he was going to put a lot of money into the club, because they knew he was a rich man in Asia. They viewed him positively at first.
"He wanted to build a stadium, but it didn't happen, other than that he hasn't actually made any promises. Now, he no longer shows his face in Kortrijk. The fans are angry about that because it seems that he doesn’t do anything. Ken Choo is taking care of everything now. Tan is not investing in the club, but if there are financial problems, he will fix them."
Q. Why has the club descended into chaos in recent months? A lot of key figures have left the club...
"Matthias Leterme (CEO) and Ronny Verhelst (president) left Kortrijk because of a dispute with Tan. Matthias and Ronny wanted to sell the club to Burnley, because they showed serious interest, but Tan is hoping to hit the jackpot with the Kaminski Group now.
"Matthias and Verhelst were afraid that Kaminski are not serious, because they are new in the football business and it would not be good for Kortrijk if Kaminski took over. They thought Burnley would be better, because young players would come to KVK, but Burnley did not make a bid, it was only serious interest. Burnley talked with Tan but he wanted too much money for KVK, so the Clarets decided to invest in their squad for next season instead."
Q. Would you consider his reign at KVK to be a success?
"No, not a success. Everyone expected more from Tan. Kortrijk wanted a new stadium and become a top-10 club in Belgium and not fighting against relegation. The fans expected better players, young players to sell to big teams and better results.
"KV Kortrijk played a cup final and reached the top six before Tan took over and the club expected to get better with a new, rich investor in Tan."
Q. What is the latest regarding the reported sale of the club and do you think it is likely to happen?
"It seems that the Kaminski Group has some serious interest in the club. Some of the group were at Kortrijk last week to talk, the Newcastle owners do not have interest, it’s until the 31 of May that a take over could take place, at this moment i do not see it going through."
Q. How much do you think Tan wants to sell KVK for and do you think he will get the money?
"He got the club for £4.35m. I know Burnley had interest to give around £10-11m, but Tan said: Let’s see what how much they would give more, but there was no official bid.
"Tan will sell the club for around £13–15m, I think. Kaminski would give that I think, because they really want another club in Europe (after buying Panetolikos in Greece)."
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