Seven of the 20 teams in the League have foreign owners. In total, 33% of the clubs are nourished by fortunes built in countries such as China, Singapore, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Brazil and Argentina. But these projects, unlike what happens in the Premier League, have not yet been successful in Spain. With eight days to go, four of these seven teams occupy the last positions in the League.
What started two decades ago with millionaires like Dmitri Piterman at Racing de Santander or Al-Thani at Málaga is much more common today. These histrionic and impulsive characters have given way to others, with exceptions, who are calmer. In general, there are fewer promises, fewer star signings and more long-term work with the aim of establishing solid foundations and, as the ultimate goal, recouping the investment. The initial multi-million dollar payouts usually slow down over time and this affects the bottom line a lot.
Right now the last four of the League are Christian Bragarnik's Elche (Argentina), Chen Yansheng's Espanyol (China), Meriton and Peter Lim's Valencia (Singapore) and Turki Al-Sheikh's Almeria (Arabia Saudi Arabia). Ronaldo's Valladolid (Brazil) is breathing thanks to its last two victories, but remains five points from relegation, and the other two entities with majority foreign capital, Robert Sarver's Mallorca (United States) and City Football Group's Girona (Abu Dhabi), they live in the middle of the table this season.
There are many differences between all of them, but if the last four classifieds have been characterized by something, it is that they are crushers for coaches. Peter Lim has used eleven technicians (with fourteen changes) in nine years at Valencia; Chen Yansheng, nine in seven more years at Espanyol; Turki Al-Sheikh, five in three seasons at Almeria; and Christian Bragarnik, nine in three courses at Elche.
In the case of the white-and-blues, the promise of playing in the Champions League went from a historic decline a year after entering the Europa League. Legislative changes in China prevented Chen Yansheng from continuing to turn on the money tap and the club has suffered badly. Two seasons later, the lack of investment at the right time (Espanyol spent 13 million in the winter market) and the sporting scandals have brought the organization to a borderline situation.
In Valencia, Peter Lim has turned a regular in the Champions League into a selling club and has not reinvested the income neither to finish the new stadium, half built, nor to strengthen the squad to return to Europe. In nine years, it has only managed to enter the Champions League on three occasions, and for three years it has been hovering around the bottom of the classification.
In the Second Division, seven other clubs have foreign owners (Granada, Albacete, Zaragoza, Oviedo, Sporting, Leganés and Málaga) and only the Nassarites and the Manchas have promotion options.
