Red Bull could buy Torino

There could soon be a Red Bull company in Serie A as well. According to La Stampa, a newspaper from Turin and therefore well-informed about the facts, Urbano Cairo has met with Red Bull representatives to discuss the sale of the Granata club. As early as September, the famous brand became the Energy Drink Partner of Torino, the first club in Serie A to have this type of agreement, demonstrating that there was a channel of communication between the football club and Red Bull. Now this relationship could become even stronger, with the acquisition of the majority of shares and the corresponding control of the club. 

Cairo has been President of Torino FC since the summer of 2005, when he bought the club in full bankruptcy and brought it back to the top division through a difficult process. But in recent years, the management of Torino by the leadership has been strongly criticized by the organized Granata fan associations, who accuse the President of making few investments in the club and having low ambitions for a team that has made history in Italian football. The summer sales of two highly promising players, Alessandro Buongiorno and Raul Bellanova, had sparked the anger of fans, who were expecting a different transfer market after the ninth place finish last season. At the moment, Torino is once again in ninth place with Vanoli as head coach.

Red Bull has invested heavily in the world of football, choosing former Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp as Head of global soccer, and with the acquisition of Torino, it could further increase its influence in one of the world's most important leagues. At the moment, Red Bull controls Leipzig in Europe, the New York Red Bulls in the United States, and Bragantino in Brazil, while Salzburg, coached by Klopp's former assistant Pep Lijnders, has distanced itself due to UEFA regulations and only maintains the naming rights. Takeovers of clubs are usually met with mixed emotions, between the enthusiasm of a ownership with great ambitions and the skepticism for the usual rebranding that tends to erase the history of clubs. In the case of Torino, this transition could be easier, considering that both companies use the same animal as their symbol.