Friedkin Ready for Roma Takeover

I joked yesterday on Twitter that, in the same span of time that Dan Friedkin was hoping to close the deal for AS Roma, I had yet to put away laundry I did late last week, and, well, my sloth looks even worse in the light of today's news. After weeks of speculation, it seems as though Friedkin will indeed close the deal for Roma prior to New Year's Day.

Word trickled out yesterday that Friedkin was waiting for the final details to be ironed out before leaving Long Beach, California for the Eternal City. Our friends at RomaPress were in contact with Friedkin's representatives, who confirmed negotiations were nearly complete.

Those whispers, as it turned out, were 100% accurate, as the Italian press is now reporting the deal is complete:

According to Il Tempo, Il Messaggero (and confirmed by RomaPress) the deal is complete; Dan Friedkin is the new owner of AS Roma, or soon will be once everything is vetted and signed. Per the terms of the deal, as they're currently understood, the transaction will be valued at roughly €971 million: 500 million net valuation, 271 million towards the clubs debt and 150 million in capital increase, an amount previously approved by the Roma board.

Il Tempo expects an official announcement from one or both parties before the end of the day, while the official transfer of power will likely take a few weeks still.

Needless to say, this is seismic news in the Romaverse. At this point, it would be foolhardy to predict what sort of owner Friedkin will be, largely because he's completely new to the sporting world, but as we discussed yesterday, without this move, Roma's short-term fortunes could have reversed dramatically. Roma won't turn into PSG overnight, but this move forestalled financial disaster.

We'll pass along updates as they become available.