We still do not know what the future of Standard de Liège will consist of in the medium term, but it is possible that this will happen through Bruno Venanzi. With a view to a takeover, the former owner of the club would have contacted a potential investor.
Who will get Standard de Liège out of the rut it finds itself in? The situation is critical, and it will take a fortune not only to take over the club from 777 Partners, but above all to buy back the debt of Matricule 16. Lucien D’Onofrio is, of course, one of the prospective buyers, but he would not invest himself and would arrive with probably foreign investors.
Bruno Venanzi, the former owner of Standard, could recover part of its shares following the non-payment of one of the installments owed by 777 Partners. But Venanzi, as much a lover of the club as he is, has no intention of relaunching in such an enterprise alone.
According to RTBFBruno Venanzi would have contacted a potential partner: it would be Nicolas Lhoistheir to a large fortune, one of the largest in Belgium, and already an investor, among other things, in the world of sport.
Lhoist, himself a lover of Standard, is thus behind the recent success of Union Rochefortoise, which is moving up into the newly formed D1 ACFF (formerly Nationale 1). He is also the head of the Tero Group with his brother, and owner of several event venues (Knokke Out, River Woods Beach Club).
Nicolas Lhoist, however, would have procrastinated: the sum necessary to get Standard back afloat would be far too high, even for him (we are talking about 80 million euros). However, nothing would exclude the continuation of discussions if other partners could possibly join the project.
