Just what is going on with Estudiantes and Foster Gillett?

“Welcome to the revolution,” was Estudiantes club president Juan Sebastián Verón's defiant statement at the end of 2024, when it was announced that US businessman Foster Gillett would be bankrolling an ambitious spending programme at the La Plata club. 

In this case, however, it seems that the revolution will not be financed. Serious doubts have emerged over Gillett's economic dealings, barely a month after his arrival prompted uproar and upheaval across the world of Argentine football.

For someone whose presence supposedly beckons an age of diligent, serious private administration in the Liga Profesional de Fútbol and beyond, Gillett has hardly done the 'SAD' (Sociedad anónima deportivo, the preferred nomenclature for supporters of the scheme) movement much good so far. After a January of reckless spending, this month has seen a heap of unpaid bills land on Estudiantes' door, raising questions about just what exactly is going on with their shadowy financier.

The most poignant case concerns Valentín Gómez. One of the stars of Vélez's Liga-winning team in 2024, the defender was 'signed' by Gillett last month and immediately loaned out to Udinese in Serie A. But here's the problem: Vélez never received the corresponding funds buying Gómez out of his contract, meaning that to all intents and purposes he remains bonded to the Liniers side. With the transfer window in Italy now shut and his new club unable to register him, the young star is keeping himself busy by training in a local town square in Udine – particularly poor timing given that his performances in Vélez had put him on the brink of an Argentina call-up for the next international break this March.

Similar issues and delays surround other transfers brokered by the ex-Liverpool chief. River Plate are waiting on a substantial sum owed for the transfer of Rodrigo Villagra, a deal agreed last month but still unpaid. Millonario general secretary Stefano Di Carlo took the opportunity to slam Estudiantes' market manoeuvres this week, claiming that “everything that Verón is doing and saying creates distrust” and criticising Gillett for trying to gazump his club in negotiations for attacker Sebastián Driussi. 

In yet another murky January transfer, that of Liga de Quito's Ezequiel Piovi, the Pincha were forced to dip into their own pocket in order to finally register the player and make him available for selection, though reports that they had dipped into the prize money received for qualifying to this year's Copa Libertadores were denied by Verón.

Ironically enough, all of this drama has had little effect on the pitch. Estudiantes have raced to first place in Zone A with three wins and two draws, proving perhaps that they didn't really need much reinforcement in the first place to stay competitive in the Liga Profesional. Behind the scenes, though, the strain can only be growing. Verón is staking everything he has on the businessman's aid. 

“This is my project. If it doesn't come off, it'll take me with it,” he admitted to Radio Provincia this week. “The club, as it is right now, cannot grow further. If there is no deal, I don't want to keep gnashing my teeth because in June we'll have to sell our whole team and bring in another. That's the reality: I want something bigger.”

Even if the money eventually appears, this hardly projects the slick, professional partnership both Gillett and Verón have tried to sell to members who will eventually vote on its legitimacy in an extraordinary assembly. One needs only to look to Liverpool, moreover, where Gillett enjoys about the same popularity as the proprietor of The Sun or any Manchester United player, to see that his track record in football is not exactly spotless. 

If Gillett doesn't get his act together soon, he risks getting on the wrong side of yet another sizeable, vociferous fanbase – while putting a huge dent in the fevered dreams of those wishing to see private enterprise deliver a brave new world in the Argentine game.