Falcao and the Monaco exodus: whats going on at

last years big spenders?

Vadim Vasilyev, the clubs vice-president, says Russian tycoon Dmitry Rybolovlev
wont pull out despite star players moving on
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Paul Doyle
ollow !"aul#Doyle ollow !guardian
$he %uardian, $hursday & September '01& 1&(&' )S$
*ump to comments +1'',
-onaco.s vice-
president Vadim Vasilyev and Radamel alcao when the rench club
were splashing out record sums to become a European superpower(
"hotograph/ Sebastien 0ogier1E"2
34 only, as %eorge 5 )ush might put it, the rench had some way o4
saying volte-face( 6r, as we can now say in English, 7doing an 2S
-onaco8( 24ter all, this time last year the club 4rom the principality were
splashing out record sums in a bid to become an almost-instant
European superpower9 now they have decided to rein in their
e:penditure and cash out on top recruits such as *ames Rodr;gue< and
Radamel alcao, leaving 4ans and onloo=ers angry about the abrupt
change o4 direction(
7$here are two ways to go,8 the -onaco vice-president Vadim Vasilyev
says( 76ne is either you invest a lot o4 money and do it >uic=ly, the other
is you build up an intelligent pro?ect and you have to base yoursel4 on
your academy and sound principles o4 wor=ing and scouting well and
basically thats what weve decided to do(8 2ll very laudable, and all in
total contrast to the approach that Vasilyev had initially pursued a4ter
being appointed last year by Dmitry Rybolovlev, the Russian billionaire
who bought a controlling sta=e in -onaco in '011 at a time when the
seven-times champions o4 rance were slumming it near the bottom o4
the countrys second tier(
24ter winning promotion last year, -onaco 4or=ed out around @1A0m to
attract two o4 the most sought-a4ter players in the world, in Rodr;gue<
and alcao, along with other coveted players such as *oBo -outinho and
the gi4ted young rench mid4ielder %eo44rey Condogbia( Duge salaries
also lured Ricardo Earvalho and Eric 2bidal on 4ree trans4ers( 75e are
ambitious, we are -onaco,8 became the clubs slogan, appearing on
ubi>uitous promotional material, usually accompanied by pictures o4
Rodr;gue< and alcao(
0ow both Eolombians have le4t F Rodr;gue< to Real -adrid 4or almost
double the @GH(Am that -onaco paid 4or him, and alcao on loan to
-anchester Inited( actor in the departure o4 less glamorous personnel,
such as the stri=er Emmanuel RiviJre to 0ewcastle, and 'A players
+although this 4igure includes players 4rom the academy and out o4
contract, have le4t the club this summer( Ki=e-4or-li=e replacements have
been conspicuous by their absence so the club that spent around @'00m
in the previous two years made a pro4it o4 about @L0m on trans4ers this
summer( Vasilyev, however, insists that he and Rybolovlev remain
7strongly committed8 to -onaco and re?ects suggestions that the
Russians are 4logging the clubs top assets be4ore pulling out(
Such suggestions have become common in the rench media( 3ndeed, a
radical about-turn was almost e:pected 4rom Rybolovlev in -ay a4ter a
Swiss court ordered him to pay a world-record divorce settlement o4
@'(Lbn to his e:-wi4e, Elena( 7-y responsibility is managing the club, 3
ma=e it a principle not to discuss the private a44airs o4 my president,8
says Vasilyev when as=ed whether that ruling is behind Rybolovlevs
reprioritising at -onaco( 6ther club sources, however, claim that the
e44ect o4 the courts decision have been e:aggerated, noting that several
caveats in the ruling, plus what is e:pected to be a long appeal process,
ma=e it unli=ely that Rybolovlev will ever have to pay anything close to
the headline sum(
2nother theory 4loated by KE>uipe this wee= is that Rybolovlev has
watered down his investment in protest at -onaco not giving him a
passport( $he tycoon already holds a Eypriot one a4ter living and
investing heavily in that island but that document, unli=e a -onMgas>ue
one, would not grant anyone protection 4rom e:tradition to Russia i4, 4or
some reason, such a scenario were ever to arise(
Vasilyev, however, says that the clubs change in policy is motivated by
4ootball reasons, particularly the hostility o4 European and rench
4ootballing authorities( De says that last years splurge was a one-o44
intended to 7?ump-start8 a newly promoted club so that they >uali4ied 4or
the Ehampions Keague at the 4irst attempt, which they did, but he
ac=nowledges that the original plan did not provide 4or >uite such a
sudden drop in investment(
72 4ew things happened in the meantime,8 says Vasilyev( 7$he most
important o4 them was that this is the 4irst year o4 the 4inancial 4air play
rules N -anchester Eity and "aris Saint-%ermain received >uite severe
sanctions, including 4ines, limits on recruitment and salary caps( 3
discussed this with my president and basically he said/ OKoo=, 3m already
investing big money and i4 the club has to pay 4ines over and on top o4
that, this is something that is really not on( $his really goes against any
common sense( 5e had hoped that the sanctions would not be so
severe and that clubs would be given a 4ew years to ad?ust but it
happened in a di44erent way( 3m not saying whether thats right or wrong,
?ust that these are the rules and we have no other way but to comply with
them(8
2nother 4actor was the reaction o4 other rench clubs to -onacos
e:travagance, which, arriving at a time when most other clubs in Kigue 1
were loc=ed in austerity drives, intensi4ied resentment about -onacos
ta: haven status( Kigue 1 threatened to =ic= the club out unless they
moved their head>uarters into the same ta: ?urisdiction as all the other
clubs( -onaco, members o4 the rench league since 1HGG and never
be4ore the target o4 such threats, 4elt this was no moral stance, merely an
opportunistic stic=-up( 24ter court disputes and mediation, the club
eventuallyagreed to pay the league PA0m over two years to resolve the
matter( )ut they were not happy about it and Vasilyev says that his
employer might not have bought the club i4 he had =nown such a
scenario would un4old(
7$his e:penditure was not 4oreseen in our budget and was again on top
o4 our investment,8 says Vasilyev( 75hen the club was bottom o4 the
second league and 4ighting relegation to the third, no one was saying
that this was a possibility, there was not a single hint o4 it( 3t was only
a4ter we were very close to going bac= to the top Qthat clubs began
agitatingR( Dad this been =nown to QRybolovlevR at the time he was ta=ing
over the club, he might have thought di44erently( De came in good 4aith,
he started investing, which is not only good 4or the team, it is also good
4or rench 4ootball( 2nd then he is being punished(8
0one o4 that turned Rybolovlev o44 rench 4ootball, insists Vasilyev, but it
did contribute to the change o4 policy, the decision to swi4tly switch the
4ocus to cultivating young talent( 75e have a historic academy, this is
where $hierry Denry, Emmanuel "etit, David $re<eguet and Kilian
$huram came 4rom( 0ow we have eight academy players in our
pro4essional s>uad and that is really good( 5e really have a lot o4 talent
and we now have a coach QKeonardo *ardimR who is really good at
developing young talent( *ust loo= at the things he has done in Sporting
Kisbon with a team with no real stars and a lot o4 young boys(8
*ardim, who inspired Sporting to a second-place 4inish in "ortugal last
season, was hired in the summer a4ter Elaudio Ranieri le4t -onaco( $he
4ormer Ehelsea manager was 4rustrated with the clubs new policy(
Vasilyev says it is 7rubbish8 that many players now 4eel li=ewise, though
admits that the 'S-year-old alcao was an e:ception( 73 love my club and
3 thin= we have a great pro?ect but we have to admit that we are not yet
on the level o4 -anchester Inited or Real -adrid,8 says Vasilyev( 75e
still need more time to develop and obviously a player li=e alcao wants
to have a pro?ect now and not tomorrow( 3 would presume that he didnt
really have the time to wait( 3 would have li=ed him to stay but 3 can
understand at his age(8
$he new policy has also enraged some supporters, with a group this
wee= demanding that their tic=ets be re4unded in the wa=e o4 the
departures and media claims about Rybolovlevs motivations( Vasilyev
says such dissenters 4orm a minority( 75e deny strongly what was said
by those 4ew supporters,8 says Vasilyev( 7$he supporters are 4ully behind
the club N $hey are very happy that "resident Rybolovlev arrived at a
very di44icult moment has ta=en them bac= to the top( 3t is not a matter o4
two or three players, it is a pro?ect and they believe in it(8 Vasilyev says
Rybolovlev will not ban=roll the recruitment o4 another alcao 7in the
4oreseeable 4uture8 but he does not accept that any plan to grow -onaco
more organically is doomed to 4ailure because o4 the clubs small 4an
base( 2n average home gate o4 around 10,000 does not seem li=e
especially 4ertile ground( 7Tou say we dont have many 4ans but this is a
country o4 GA,000 people so having 10,000 in -onaco is li=e having
maybe G00,000 in a stadium in -anchester i4 we ta=e it proportionally, as
we should( $o always 4ill our stadium we would need everyone in the
country to come, including new-borns and the elderly, so we have to be
realistic( )ut the passion in there and the atmosphere is much better
than it was be4ore( $his is a prestigious club with seven rench titles and
was in the Ehampions Keague 4inal ?ust 10 years ago(8
34 -onaco had continued on Rybolovlevs initial policy, they might have
been among the 4avourites to challenge 4or the Ehampions Keague this
season( 3nstead they 4ace a struggle getting out o4 a group that includes
)en4ica, Uenit St "etersburg and )ayer Kever=usen( inishing in the top
three o4 Kigue 1 to >uali4y 4or the tournament again ne:t term also loo=s
a stern challenge, as they lie 1Ath a4ter winning one o4 their 4irst 4our
matches( $he clubs goal is still to become a ma?or international 4orce on
the bac= o4 being 7an upscale, lu:ury brand8(
73m sure its possible but it will be a longer process,8 he says( 75e are
luc=y to be in -onaco and have everything that this country stands 4or( 3t
will be a longer ?ourney than we thought but 3 am con4ident we will get
there( 5e are evaluating how long but obviously it will ta=e at least 4ive
years(8