John Textor is under pressure in Brazil

John Textor's football daily life has definitely been very hectic lately. The 59-year-old American, through his company Eagle, plays a varied role in the world of timeshare football. Between the highly scrutinized winter transfer window of Olympique Lyonnais due to the economic situation of the Rhone club and the expected sale of his shares in the English club Crystal Palace, the American businessman is in high demand. Despite having total authority at Groupama Stadium, the businessman does not hold decision-making power within the London club. A tense situation for the person concerned who, for many months, has been trying to get rid of the 45% of shares she holds in the residents of Selhurst Park and which they should sell to a group of shareholders from Saudi Arabia and the United States. But in Brazil, a completely different mission awaits him, not the least after the various successes encountered in Botafogo.

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Indeed, less than a year after taking office, Portuguese coach Artur Jorge left the Botafogo bench, with the feeling of accomplishment. Arriving this year after experience on the Braga bench, the 53-year-old technician allowed the Brazilian club to achieve a historic Copa Libertadores – Championship double. It's difficult to revise your goals upwards after such a performance, and as expected, the Portuguese left the club. Botafogo made it official via a press release published this Saturday: “Botafogo and Artur Jorge have finalized the termination of the coach's contract, including that of his technical staff, by mutual agreement. The club thanks its 2024 champions for the performances achieved. The new technical committee will be announced soon”announces the club. John Textor is already on deck to find his new coach, but some Brazilian media and supporters are worried about the lack of anticipation of the situation and especially the first refusals during the preliminary searches.

Still no coach!

The only first division team to start 2025 without a coach, Botafogo is avoiding any rush to define who will succeed Artur Jorge, the Portuguese who led the club to the Brazilian Championship and Copa Libertadores titles last year, and that is precisely the past season which reassures John Textor. Exclusively for ESPN Brazilthe North American businessman who owns Botafogo highlighted the success of 2024, when Fogão's team changed coaches in April, as the main reason and reason to follow not to accelerate the search for the future coach : “People need to remember that last year we brought in a new coach after the season had already started. And yet, we had a fabulous year, with two titles», declared the man who also owns OL in France. Botafogo hoped to continue with Artur Jorge, but the Portuguese accepted an offer from Qatari club Al Rayyan and thus decided to return abroad. The club then made an offer for André Jardine, a Brazilian coach who manages the América club in Mexico, but received a refusal.

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Despite the prevailing optimism, John Textor admits that he expected more speed in the process of selecting the new technical staff, but guarantees that he has time to choose the best possible name: “Of course, we didn't expect our process to take this long, but we have plenty of time to choose the new coach. I have a level of patience that is not shared by journalists and perhaps some fans. But I will do my best to make the right decision. Botafogo is in a new and unknown place, where many coaches would like to take this position. I am very confident in the result“. Without a deal with Jardine, Botafogo is still mapping the market in search of a name to take over the team. Entering the year as the current champion of Brazil and South America is, according to Textor, an incentive to attract a qualified professional. Botafogo will be back on the pitch at the end of the week, with the first day of the Rio regional championship against Maricá scheduled for January 11.