FSG are interested in investing in Spanish side Malaga with former Liverpool starlet Dani Pacheco knowing all about the Segunda side's struggles
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Updated 13:25, 31 Mar 2025
Former Liverpool starlet Dani Pacheco during his time with Malaga, John W. Henry and FSG chief executive of football Michael Edwards
Former Liverpool starlet Dani Pacheco during his time with Malaga, John W. Henry and FSG chief executive of football Michael Edwards
(Image: Getty Images)
Fenway Sports Group could be about to invest in Malaga as Liverpool’s owners look to proceed with their multi-club plans. Former Reds sporting director Michael Edwards re-joined FSG as their chief executive of football last year, with the offer made to him including the opportunity to help identify and subsequently manage a second club.
FSG were in talks with Bordeaux last year before withdrawing from discussions. They have been assessing a number of clubs in Europe, including others from both Spain and France.
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This has seen them express interest in Malaga, though they face competition over the potential purchase from Paris Saint-Germain owners Qatar Sports Investments.
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Malaga are currently in administration and under judicial control following a controversial period of ownership under Qatari businessman Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani, who first invested in 2010.
He currently owns 51% of the club with the remaining 49% owned by Spanish hotel and real estate group Blue Bay.
Sheikh Al Thani first took over the club back in June 2010 when Malaga were still a La Liga outfit. They had just finished 17th in the Spanish top-flight prior to his arrival, narrowly avoiding relegation.
Yet they finished 11th in his first season before securing a top-four finish in 2011/12 to qualify for the Champions League. Manuel Pellegrini’s squad had been bolstered by the arrival of a number of big-name signings, including Ruud van Nistelrooy, Joaquin, Santi Cazorla, Isco, Jeremey Toulalan, Martin Demichelis, Nacho Monreal and Joris Mathijsen.
But that was as good as it got under Al Thani’s ownership for Malaga, who memorably reached the Champions League quarter-finals only to be knocked out by Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund after the Bundesliga side scored twice in stoppage-time to clinch a 3-2 comeback win.
In 2017/18, they finished bottom of La Liga to suffer relegation and haven’t been back to the Spanish top-flight since.
And while they initially pushed for immediate promotion, losing in the promotion play-offs in the 2018/19 semi-finals, it has since gone from bad to worse for the strugglers, even suffering relegation to the Spanish third tier in 2022/23.
They are at least now back in the Segunda division, having triumphed in the promotion play-offs last season. But currently 15th in the 22-team table, don’t expect them back in the top-flight anytime soon - at least not without fresh investment.
Former Liverpool starlet Dani Pacheco was a member of the Malaga side the last time they challenged for promotion to La Liga.
Dani Pacheco of Liverpool poses for photographs after a training session at Melwood on October 11, 2012
Dani Pacheco of Liverpool poses for photographs after a training session at Melwood on October 11, 2012
Making 17 appearances during his time with the Reds, he left the club permanently in 2013 and within two years was a Segunda champion with Real Betis in 2015. He won the division again when sent on loan at Alaves in 2016, before joining Getafe permanently and winning promotion via the play-offs in 2017.
But after a shoulder injury derailed his chance in La Liga with the latter, he signed for Malaga in August 2018. They were his boyhood club with the forward starting his career with the Spanish side before being snapped up by Barcelona’s academy.
Consequently, he could not resist the opportunity to return home and attempt to win a fourth promotion to La Liga.
However, his time with Malaga did not go to plan. Missing out on promotion in his first season after losing in the play-offs, Pacheco was one of eight players laid off in October 2020 in response to the club’s ever-growing financial plight.
“At the end of this season, I had another year contracted with Getafe but Malaga came after me and had a big plan to go up,” Pacheco recalled in an exclusive interview with the ECHO in 2021, offering a glimpse at the Spanish outfit’s struggles at the time. “It was my home and 15 years since I had left so I couldn’t say no.
“I had a good salary also so I decided to go to Malaga to fight for promotion. When I joined Malaga, my city, I had a long injury so it was a difficult season for me.
“I think the owner is from Qatar and he had some business outside of football in the city. They had some problems with the business and after that, he started to sell all the players and he wanted to get back his money.
“The club started to have problems and were relegated to the second division. The salaries were very high for the second division so they started to lose money every month. We signed the contracts at the club to be paid this.
“After one season in second division, we couldn’t go up. We played the promotion play-offs to go up but we couldn’t go up.
“The second season in the second division was a difficult one and we had delay on our payments.
“They then sent eight players with high salaries out and I was one of them. I had surgery at the same time so I couldn’t sign for any team until I was 100% recovered.
“I was thinking of being in La Liga again after one year with Malaga but it didn’t happen with my injury and all the problems with salary.”
Malaga’s plight has not improved since Pacheco’s enforced departure four and a half years ago. But should FSG go on to invest in the struggling Segunda side, Liverpool’s owners will hope they can be the ones to resurrect their flailing fortunes.