A professional journey of success after the failure of the randomized Pyramids experiment.
A failed investment experience in the Egyptian League, a clash in front of a huge public team in the Arab world, ascension to the Spanish Premier League after a professional ascent journey.
3 scenes that simply show you who is Turki Al Sheikh, head of the Saudi Entertainment Authority and owner of the Spanish club Almeria.
A clear contradiction in behavior, perhaps reflected in the policy of the Saudi owner, which was not formed in the present form at the time when he was in Egypt.
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Between the purchase of the Egyptian club Pyramids and the Spanish club Almeria, many differences affected everything, starting with the desired goal, passing through the different spending, and ending with the free clashes.
Now, Almeria has returned to the Spanish League after rising from the second division by topping the championship and winning it in the last matches.
A journey that we must stop at and learn the differences between it and the experience of the same man in Egypt, who came out of it losing all the sporting parties, led by the fans of Al-Ahly and Zamalek.
Where was the beginning?
The Saudi owner’s journey with Almeria FC is divided into 3 steps, the organized and professional start in dealing with the club’s institutions and its financial value, through gaining the confidence of the fans and creating media momentum towards the team, finally by being crowned with a return to the most important league in Spain.
Al-Sheikh bought the Spanish club in 2019 for 20 million euros, and put his trust in some Arab names to manage the team, along with some Spanish cadres, of course.
There is no doubt that his agent, “Mohamed Al-Asi” was at the head of the executive management of the team. The Saudi owner is very confident in his abilities and management experience, which was previously present in the Egyptian Pyramids.
UD Almeria
The management of the situation in Spain is very different from what it was in Egypt, perhaps due to the fact that the European country has a strict regime regarding financial matters and how to spend.
Unlike in Egypt, where there is no financial accountability for buying and spending matters, any team can use their financial ability to bring in 11 or maybe more players per season, and get rid of the same number for free at the same time.
In Spain, the laws are clear, which neither Turki nor his Egyptian manager could circumvent, as Al Sheikh wanted to bring Saudi sponsorship contracts to his team, but La Liga did not allow this step, and made it clear that the amounts of contracts were not commensurate with the value of a second-class team.
A stopping point that made Turki think of using his current resources and developing them in a way that brings success to his system, whose features are being shaped, but how?
Little money, many successes
In his first season with Almeria, Al Sheikh spent 27 million euros on his new deals, and Darwin Nunez, the current Benfica striker, was at the forefront of those names.
While the team’s coffers received 5.4 million euros, which reflected the club’s need to develop its marketing process, and indeed, in the team’s second season, the situation changed.
As the Spanish club spent 23 million euros on the new names, while its coffers received 24 million euros, which made Turki very happy and explains in his statement that he “reached the point of equalization”.
The development was more reflected in the team’s last season, in which only 12 million were spent on its needs, while 6.5 million euros were received by the late names.
Marketing matters did not only develop in the policy of buying and selling, but also extended to contractual matters, as Almeria club put a clause in the late Nunez contract to Benfica stipulating that he would receive 20% of the value of his sale if it happened in the future.
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The Uruguayan striker is now wanted by Liverpool and Manchester United clubs, and his value is estimated at 100 million euros, meaning that Almeria is likely to get only 20 million euros from the sale.
These events make you not impressed when I tell you that the Almeria team has a marketing value of 60 million euros now, and that it did not rise to the Spanish League only for the honorable presence.
The positive things in Turki’s experience did not stop at the improvement in how money was managed, but also reached the management of the available resources and getting the best possible profit out of them.
Turki also announced in his statement that he helped improve the team’s pitch, floodlights, and training grounds.
With the intention to develop the team’s stadium and expand the stands to accommodate a larger number of fans in the upcoming matches in the Spanish League.
In order to become Almeria months of Real Madrid!
Telling money and how resources are managed is an attractive way for anyone interested in the professional work of improving quality and reaping the best benefits from existing data.
But what is the value of all this if no one knows about it? We may disagree on that answer, but it is present in Turki in a certain way that propaganda is the most important weapon that the Saudi man possesses in spreading his new experience.
Al-Sheikh contributed to paying half a million euros through the club in favor of the city to confront the crisis of the Corona virus that struck the world at a time.
He also used some historical names in the world of football to market his Spanish club, by wearing the team’s shirts in his meeting with Lionel Messi before, and jokingly inviting him to join Almeria to play in it.
Matters that expand the value of the marketing team, especially with the presence of Saudi and Arab support for the new experience, which this time is not related to pumping money, but through a complete professional process from all corners.
new era
A Turkish team is waiting for some difficulties next season. Almeria’s return now to the Spanish League puts it under more eyes, which is what the Saudi owner wants.
But the process of staying competitive and evolving in terms of the level offered and the results will probably make the administration think about bringing in new deals.
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It is believed that Al Sheikh is likely to take advantage of his team’s presence in the first division to sign huge sponsorship contracts with Saudi companies, which he failed to do before.
But this issue, even if it is easy in England, may not go unnoticed now with Turki, due to the presence of Javier Tebas at the head of the La Liga administration.
Talking about finances, there may be an unwelcome clash between Tebas and the owner of Almeria, but in any case the Al-Sheikh will look for a new way to benefit and reap the greatest gains, as he did before.
Witness from all this, that the upcoming experience next season will be exciting in all its details.