Why Palermo and FC Südtirol are worlds apart

Football clubs owned by a businessman from the Arab world are no longer a rarity. The best-known examples are Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City. But while PSG is a "toy" of Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the English team is just the figurehead of a huge group of clubs that all belong to the same owner. We are talking about Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his City Football Group.

The company, which is based in Abu Dhabi, owns a total of 12 clubs around the world - including in India, China, Belgium, Portugal and Uruguay. The company is currently looking to penetrate Africa as well.

The City Football Group is also active in Italy. On June 1, 2022, 80 percent of the traditional Sicilian club Palermo was taken over. Palermo is still playing against FC Südtirol in Serie B, but the club will soon follow the example of Girona. The Catalans were still playing in Spain's second division in spring 2022. Now there is Champions League football to be seen in Girona. A rise that brings the owners a lot of money. Because even if a lot is invested in the clubs - in the end they should be successful and thus bring millions into the coffers.

New training ground and top transfers In contrast to many other projects of the City Group, Palermo is (for now) keeping a low profile. The club has been provided with luxurious new grounds, but is being given free rein, especially when it comes to transfers. There has also been no name change (the remaining clubs have almost all had "City" added to their names). This is also because the club does not want to upset the tradition-conscious Sicilian Tifosi. Around 25.000 people are in the stadium for every home game. The away fan blocks are always well filled too.

Palermo can count on a large fan base – whether away or at home.

Only one player, reserve goalkeeper Francesco Di Bartolo, came to Sicily this summer from another city club (SK Lommel from Belgium). Despite this, Palermo has no money worries on the transfer market. In the last two years, there was a transfer deficit of almost 26 million euros. By comparison: FC Südtirol has around 16 million at its disposal per year - in total!

How serious Palermo is about promotion this year became clear in the summer. Over 4 million euros were transferred to Brest for winger Jeremy Le Douaron. As a regular player, he qualified for the Champions League with the French last year. Bosnian international Dario Saric and Alexis Blin also cost seven-figure transfer fees. Danish-American defender Kristoffer Lund was signed last year. Many of these transfers are something that many Serie A clubs can only dream of.

FCS is one point ahead of Palermo in the table In terms of sport, however, things are not going as planned. Palermo have collected 8 points in their first 6 games. After two defeats right at the start, coach Alessio Dionisi's team have remained unbeaten four times recently. They have won their last two away games. That should change on Monday. At the Drusus Stadium, FCS wants to end this mini-series of the newly rich Palermitans. This would mean that coach Federico Valente's team would remain ahead of the Sicilians in the table. With 9 points collected, the FCS has one point more than Palermo. In the short term, it should and can stay that way, because the FCS will be a tough nut to crack for Palermo too. In the medium term, Palermo will overtake the FCS. However, given the pink team's financial means, that is the least they can do.

Serie B Italy	SP	TV	P
1. Venice	38	77:31	82
2. Frosinone	38	76:34	81
3.Monza	38	61:32	76
4. Palermo	38	61:33	72
5. Catanzaro	38	62:51	59
6. Modena	38	49:36	55
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Why Palermo and FC Südtirol are worlds apart

On Monday (19.30 p.m.) FC Südtirol will face Palermo. On paper, the two teams are only one point apart. But in the reality of the football universe, Palermo and FCS are worlds apart.

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