As Besiktas has signed Portugual striker Hugo Almeida from Werder Bremen on a three-and-a-half year contract for a transfer fee of 2 million Euro last December, the deal was regarded as a lucrative business-deal for the Istanbul-based sports club.
However, in the following days, the funding of the transfer stirred some public speculations and after it was revealed, that the funding went through foreign channels, the discussion was heated.
Quality Football Ireland Limited (ISC), a funding company, signed a partnership with Besiktas chairman Yıldırım Demirören, by sponsoring the transfer 2 million euros which gave them not only the rights of Hugo Almeida’s possible future moves to other clubs, also if the striker should stay with Besiktas FC, the club has to pay a substantional amount of money to the company before being able to extend Almeida’s contract.
NationalTurk inquired the facts on Hugo Almeida’s transfer
NationalTurk has been able to obtain some interesting facts about Jorge Mendes and Quality Football Ireland Limited. The roots of the company have led us to a well-known name in the european football market.
As some evidence indicate Quality Football Ireland Limited’s shares are owned by another sports agency. The prominent company’s name is more popular than ever. CAA Sports. Among the clients of american agency giants CAA Sports are very big names like Lebron James, David Beckham.
CAA Sports attempts now to be important player in the lucrative European fooballer’s transfer market and therefore signed a partnership with Gestifute, which leads us to a well-known name and a rising star among all other european managers, Jorge Mendes.
Jorge Mendes is a popular name in the european football, and his power and influence on the game is rising rapidly. Among his most prominent clients are Real Madrid star Christiano Ronaldo and manager Jose Mourinho.
Besiktas JK chairman Yıldırım Demiroren has signed this season some big names, aiming to expand brand equity of Besiktas JK and to make the club popular worlwide. Former NBA-Star Allen Iverson, former Real Madrid vice-captain Guti Hernandez, along with portuguese stars Ricardo Queresma, Hugo Almeida, Simao Sabrosa.
The ever ambitous businessman Demiroren, now also owning 2 major newspapers in Turkey, is a controversial figure among Besiktas fans and in the Turkish media, and the question, why Besiktas needed the transfer fee of Hugo Almeida to be funded, is waiting to be answered yet.