Tranmere chief opens door to A$AP Rocky investment who can help raise profile of EFL club alongside wife Rihanna
Wrexham, Birmingham City and Burnley all have A-lister investors – and now another English Football League club is rumoured to be being taken over a celebrity. This time, it’s iconic singer Rihanna’s partner, rapper A$AP Rocky, who is reportedly keen on trying his hand at owning a football club. Rihanna’s partner A$AP Rocky is said to be keen on buying TranmereGetty And that football club is League Two outfit Tranmere Rovers. Managed by Southampton legend Nigel Adkins, the Birkenhead-based club are currently 16th in the fourth-tier. Much like when Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney purchased Wrexham in 2020, plenty of fans have been left asking ‘why Tranmere?’ Though A$AP has likely seen the success the duo have achieved with the Welsh outfit, while also keeping tabs on NFL legends Tom Brady and JJ Watt’s stakes in Birmingham and Burnley respectively. It’s believed that rapper A$AP, famous for hit songs ‘Praise The Lord’ and ‘Wild For The Night’, is part of an investment group headed by celeb lawyer Joe Tacopina. The consortium is said to want to buy 80 per cent of the EFL club – valued at around £15million – which is currently owned by ex-Football Association chief Mark Palios, who took over in 2014. And Palios discussed the potential takeover during his appearance on the talkSPORT Breakfast show on Tuesday morning. He said: “It’s always been in the plan that we’d make a move on. “And it’s attracted, the names being mentioned, A$AP Rocky, who is supposedly aligned with Joe Tacopina. There’s a lot of people who are interested.” Discussing ex-Bologna, Venezia and SPAL chief Tacopina, Palios added: “He would add value in the sense of, he’s an American who understands relegation because he’s been involved in football in Italy. Tranmere have been in League Two for five seasonsGETTY Club chairman Mark Palios is welcoming celebrity investment into the clubGetty Images - Getty “He could also add value by bringing celebrities in, who can then increase the commercial potential of the club. “You’ve seen it with Wrexham, et cetera, at the moment, if you’re looking at that group of particular people, the US market is very attractive. “We’ve seen it in the Premier League, even today, debating the struggles they’ve got because of the globalisation of football. “And the US market if you look at it, you’ve got the example of Wrexham recently, you’ve got the World Cup coming up there, you’ve got 85 million Americans watching English football – 45 million of which don’t have a club at this moment in time. “Lower league clubs are potentially in their sights because the Americans always want sporting assets over here which are undervalued, and if you try to buy an MLS club, they’re ridiculous prices so people wouldn’t do that. “There’s actually a gap in the market which just happens to coincide with where we are in terms of the development of the club and taking it to the next stage.” He continued: “Joe Tacopina has come to the games, he’s not been afraid to put his presence out there and there’s been a lot of stuff leaked into the media. “At the end of the day, whether he brings A$AP Rocky in or not is down to him, it’s the type of thing I think would enhance his consortium because they can add value to the commercial side. “Because A$AP’s wife is of course Rihanna and then you then get into the full aspect of it, which doesn’t sound like football, but it actually is football. “You’ve got two potentials in a club, the football potential, and because of the pyramid we have in this country, that potential can be as much as you want to make of it as long if you’re prepared to fund it. “So at the top end you’ve got sovereign states funding it, now that’s one of the problems the Premier League have now got. ASAP will surely have seen the success Reynolds and McElhenney have had at WrexhamGetty “The other potential we’ve got is the commercial potential of the club which we’ve tried to show is actually quite significant. “And if you add onto that the impact of celebrities like Rihanna, then you can see that would greatly increase the commercial potential of the club which then moves it on.” So, with the ‘Only Girl In The World’ singer arguably being one of the biggest stars of this generation, keep your eyes peeled for another celebrity takeover for everyone to become obsessed with. To be fair, Rihanna did perform at Liverpool’s ECHO Arena in 2011 – back in the days of her famous red hair – so she and A$AP may know more on Tranmere than most might think. Or maybe they had some advice from lifelong Rovers fan Mike Dean. After being on every teenage boys’ Primark t-shirt in England in the early 2010s, fans may actually get to see her in the flesh at Prenton Park. We’re sure she and A$AP know the weather is a bit less sunny than in the States, and they’ll need to bring their Umbr
Wrexham, Birmingham City and Burnley all have A-lister investors – and now another English Football League club is rumoured to be being taken over a celebrity.
This time, it’s iconic singer Rihanna’s partner, rapper A$AP Rocky, who is reportedly keen on trying his hand at owning a football club.
And that football club is League Two outfit Tranmere Rovers.
Managed by Southampton legend Nigel Adkins, the Birkenhead-based club are currently 16th in the fourth-tier.
Much like when Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney purchased Wrexham in 2020, plenty of fans have been left asking ‘why Tranmere?’
Though A$AP has likely seen the success the duo have achieved with the Welsh outfit, while also keeping tabs on NFL legends Tom Brady and JJ Watt’s stakes in Birmingham and Burnley respectively.
It’s believed that rapper A$AP, famous for hit songs ‘Praise The Lord’ and ‘Wild For The Night’, is part of an investment group headed by celeb lawyer Joe Tacopina.
The consortium is said to want to buy 80 per cent of the EFL club – valued at around £15million – which is currently owned by ex-Football Association chief Mark Palios, who took over in 2014.
And Palios discussed the potential takeover during his appearance on the talkSPORT Breakfast show on Tuesday morning.
He said: “It’s always been in the plan that we’d make a move on.
“And it’s attracted, the names being mentioned, A$AP Rocky, who is supposedly aligned with Joe Tacopina. There’s a lot of people who are interested.”
Discussing ex-Bologna, Venezia and SPAL chief Tacopina, Palios added: “He would add value in the sense of, he’s an American who understands relegation because he’s been involved in football in Italy.
“He could also add value by bringing celebrities in, who can then increase the commercial potential of the club.
“You’ve seen it with Wrexham, et cetera, at the moment, if you’re looking at that group of particular people, the US market is very attractive.
“We’ve seen it in the Premier League, even today, debating the struggles they’ve got because of the globalisation of football.
“And the US market if you look at it, you’ve got the example of Wrexham recently, you’ve got the World Cup coming up there, you’ve got 85 million Americans watching English football – 45 million of which don’t have a club at this moment in time.
“Lower league clubs are potentially in their sights because the Americans always want sporting assets over here which are undervalued, and if you try to buy an MLS club, they’re ridiculous prices so people wouldn’t do that.
“There’s actually a gap in the market which just happens to coincide with where we are in terms of the development of the club and taking it to the next stage.”
He continued: “Joe Tacopina has come to the games, he’s not been afraid to put his presence out there and there’s been a lot of stuff leaked into the media.
“At the end of the day, whether he brings A$AP Rocky in or not is down to him, it’s the type of thing I think would enhance his consortium because they can add value to the commercial side.
“Because A$AP’s wife is of course Rihanna and then you then get into the full aspect of it, which doesn’t sound like football, but it actually is football.
“You’ve got two potentials in a club, the football potential, and because of the pyramid we have in this country, that potential can be as much as you want to make of it as long if you’re prepared to fund it.
“So at the top end you’ve got sovereign states funding it, now that’s one of the problems the Premier League have now got.
“The other potential we’ve got is the commercial potential of the club which we’ve tried to show is actually quite significant.
“And if you add onto that the impact of celebrities like Rihanna, then you can see that would greatly increase the commercial potential of the club which then moves it on.”
So, with the ‘Only Girl In The World’ singer arguably being one of the biggest stars of this generation, keep your eyes peeled for another celebrity takeover for everyone to become obsessed with.
To be fair, Rihanna did perform at Liverpool’s ECHO Arena in 2011 – back in the days of her famous red hair – so she and A$AP may know more on Tranmere than most might think.
Or maybe they had some advice from lifelong Rovers fan Mike Dean.
After being on every teenage boys’ Primark t-shirt in England in the early 2010s, fans may actually get to see her in the flesh at Prenton Park.
We’re sure she and A$AP know the weather is a bit less sunny than in the States, and they’ll need to bring their Umbrella to Birkenhead.
But maybe, just maybe, they saw talkSPORT’s Adrian Durham’s League Two rankings list and thought they were Da Ones to come and improve it and Rovers fans will want them to Stay…
Well, however the group landed on Tranmere, Rovers fans will certainly Cheers and Drink To That if this takeover materialises.
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