Getafe Team Dubai

It is official, on Thursday Royal Emirates Group has signed a deal to buy Getafe  and what is most telling is that the Dubai firm are targeting a top six finish next season. "We were offered two or three La Liga clubs and we also looked into Europe as well but Getafe is a young and rising team. The majority of the payment is up front -- for the coming year, we are definitely going to secure a position in the top six", Royal Emirates managing director Kaiser Rafiq told reporters in Dubai, adding the group had paid between 70 million and 90 million euros in a deal not funded by debt. The club as expected will be rebranded "Getafe Team Dubai" with the kit, training complex and even the stadium reflecting that change.

While Getafe have done well in the past, under former coaches Quique-Sanchez Flores, Berndt Schuster and Michael Laudrup, the club have fallen recently. They finished sixth last season but are struggling in 14th place, four points above relegation. While not saddled with some of the crippling debt that most Spanish sides carry, buying Getafe is not necessarily on the list of attractive investments.  They are located in Madrid's suburbs, but they attract the lowest attendances in the Spanish top flight, and are significantly behind even Rayo Vallecano, let alone Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid in terms of fanatical support.

Dubai officials seem nonplussed. Suleiman al Butti, Royal Emirates project manager, earmarked qualification for the Champions League, Europe's elite club competition, within two seasons. "Our vision is to now beat Real Madrid," said Butti.

I don´t know what to make of this yet. No mention of a proposed transfer budget is set even though a list of players has been tossed around. This isn´t even tied into the ruling family even. "Royal Emirates Group is a private holding company and no funding is coming from the ruling family. This is strictly a private business deal." So, I´m not sure how stable the situation is. We knew going in that the owners of Manchester City were going to spend money. We even knew that the paradigm had shifted in Malaga when they were taken over. Racing? That´s a different story and we are just starting to see some cracks in that set-up: non-payment of salaries, etc. Will this be a smooth transition of ownership like the aforementioned or will it be too difficult to impose an Arab identity on even a club like Getafe that have no clear identity?

I think the Getafe supporter´s have to say alot about that.

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