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What started with a whisper back in November is now about to become a reality. After months and months and months of negotiations, pandemic related delays, news of 11th hour suitors and more rumors than we care to rehash, the path is finally clear for Dan Friedkin to acquire Associazione Sportiva Roma. After multiple meetings between Friedkin's representatives and James Pallotta's associates over the past two days, the Friedkin Group submitted a formal offer for Roma—all that was missing was Pallotta's stamp of approval.
With word of a last minute bid from a Kuwaiti group fronted by Fahad Al-Baker appearing over the past several days, Friedkin's once sure thing was suddenly in doubt. While the Kuwaiti group was rumored to have more financial resources than either American businessmen, they were either unable or uninterested in submitting a formal bid for the club within Pallotta's reported timeline.
As a result, Pallotta had no other option than to continue negotiations with Friedkin, which may have just come to an official close moments ago:
(Also, props to John and RomaPress for covering this from the word go. Thankfully it's almost over!)
The signature arrived within the hour: James #Pallotta sells AS Roma to Dan #Friedkin @ASRomaPress
— John Solano (@Solano_56) August 5, 2020
La #ASRoma ha un nuovo proprietario: poco fa è stato firmato il contratto preliminare tra Dan #Friedkin e James #Pallotta. Dopo 9 anni la società giallorossa passa nuovamente di mano@tempoweb @Teleradiostereo pic.twitter.com/41FM1wRQVC
— Filippo Biafora (@Fil_Biafora) August 5, 2020
While we don't know the full financial details yet, if the current wave of rumors are true, Friedkin will pay some €490 to €500 million to acquire the club, which has (or soon will) change hands for the second time in less than a decade.
More details as they become available, but needless to say this is MASSIVE news and we should be thankful that it's coming to a close before the transfer season officially begins.
In the meantime, look for our Pallotta post-mortem sometime after the Sevilla match.