Roma close to takeover, claim reports

American business Thomas Di Benedetto is believed to be close to securing a takeover deal for Serie A club AS Roma.

Di Benedetto landed in Rome on Monday for exclusive negotiations with Roma’s holding company Italpetroli and stakeholder Unicredit bank.The reported US$108 million bid from Di Benedetto – an investor in Liverpool owners New England Sports Venture – is believed to be favoured over four other offers to purchase the club.”Our aim is to make Roma one of the top clubs in the world,” Di Benedetto told Gazzetta dello Sport.”We want a team that the city will always be proud of, but of course this will take time.””Rome is a wonderful city and for us to be able to represent it in the world is a great opportunity.”Roma’s widely-reported financial concerns – the club are believed to hold debts of up to US$56 million – are set to worsen if the club misses out on lucrative qualification for the Champions League.Vincenzo Montella’s side are sixth in the table, six points behind Udinese in the last Champions League qualification berth.”We all hope that Roma qualifies for the Champions League,” Di Benedetto said. “Roma have recently recovered after a difficult period. But they still lack continuity.”Di Benedetto is believed to represent several other NESV board members interested in purchasing up to 67 percent of the club.”They’re my friends, they’re all successful businessmen or managers with the necessary economic resources for this deal,” Di Benedetto said.”James Pallotta, one of the owners of the Boston Celtics, will provide his sports knowledge and he has already carefully evaluated the club’s potential.””Michael Ruane has had a successful career in investments funds and real estate and his involvement will mostly regard the plan for the new stadium.””Richard D’Amore is an expert in new media and will help us develop in that area.”