Peter Lim has received a letter of interest from Valencia’s former vice president Miguel Zorio to buy the Spanish club.
Zorio has organised the funding via Madrid-based lender Toro Finance to buy out Lim’s €250million shares in Valencia.
The bid has pledged to share 51 per cent of the club’s shares among Valencia season ticket holders and fanbase within a three-year timeframe.
Zorio’s bid has also claimed they will seek further investors to help financially boost the club, including from the city’s business community.
Zorio has previously submitted bids to Lim which have been swiftly rejected but this bid, which Lim was sent in late December, has yet to receive an official response although sources close to the club remain skeptical to how serious the offer is.
Lim has been the subject of protests from Valencia’s fanbase in recent years.
Supporters had hoped that Lim would restore the club, which thrived domestically and in Europe during the 2000s, to prominence after taking over in 2014.
Yet Valencia’s ownership have continued to cut costs in recent seasons with diminishing returns on the pitch and their planned Nou Mestalla stadium has yet to be finished — Zorio’s bid has pledged to complete the project, which has estimated costs of €250m, within three years if his bid is successful.
Valencia won the Copa del Rey in 2019 under Marcelino but he was sacked along with director of football, Mateu Alemany, after disagreements over transfer policy.
Marcelino also guided the club to successive top four finishes but the club have not finished higher than ninth in the four years since.
The former Champions League regulars finished just two points and two places above the relegation in La Liga last season but results have improved this season — they currently sit seventh in the Spanish top-flight.
Valencia’s current head coach Ruben Baraja is the club’s 16th full-time boss since 2012.
(Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
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