George F. Hemingway was not bluffing when he was asked about the selling of Honvéd last week. As reported by sportfaktor.hu, on Monday morning the club confirmed that the investor company belonging to the Metalcom group, Reditus Equity Zrt., has acquired 100% of the club’s shares from Quinex America LLC, which is a subsidiary of The Hemingway Group. In addition to making sure Ferenc Puskás former club continues to generate profit, the company wants to further improve youth development and finish high enough in the league table to reach European club competitions’ qualifiers.

Hemingway bought the club in 2006 via one of his investment companies that is based in Nevada. At the time, Honvéd was a shadow of its former glory – in the two preceding seasons they finished in the bottom half of the table. This was far below the fans’ expectations, who are aware of the club’s history, which includes winning 5 titles in the 1950s under the captaincy of Ferenc Puskás. Under Hemingway’s tenure Honvéd won the 2007 and 2009 editions of the Hungarian Cup and the Hungarian League title in 2017. The acquisition price will remain undisclosed by both parties.

“I am delighted that under my ownership Honvéd has become one of the most stable and successful clubs in Hungarian football and has become worthy of its reputation once again. However, above the league title and the cups wins, I am most pleased about the work at Magyar Futball Akadémia, from where we were able to source and develop the players needed to achieve our successes” Hemingway told honvedfc.hu.

“Our aim is clear; we want to develop even more future players at Magyar Futball Akadémia, who will later join the senior team from where they can become successful internationally. This is not only the objective of Honvéd, but Hungarian football in general too ” emphasised Zoltán Bozó and Dr. Dániel Mendelényi, the major shareholders of Metalcom Zrt.

Dr Zsolt Makra, the director of Reditus Equity Zrt., also finds it important to maintain stability while setting more and more ambitious goals over the coming years: “Few people know that Honvéd was able to achieve its recent successes while also staying profitable. Alongside continuing to accomplishing targets on the pitch, it is just as important to maintain financial stability and increase profits from the transfer market. This is the only way the club can compete for European places and the title in the future”.

Earlier this month we looked back at the career of Ferenc Puskás. In addition to Honvéd, the Hungarian government is also investing into football youth development. Recently we reported their plan to build a new youth academy for Hungarian minorities living in Transylvania.

Featured image: https://www.facebook.com/honvedfc/

Source: sportfaktor.hu, honvedfc.hu