Following in Didier Drogba’s footsteps, Demba Ba and Eden Hazard are set to become co-owners for a professional football franchise in the USA as well. The North American Soccer League (NASL) officially announced on Monday that an expansion franchise co-owned in part by four different pro players will join the league in the Spring of 2018.
As we learned back in January, former Chelsea striker Demba Ba is part of the team’s investor group that includes Eden Hazard alongside Moussa Sow and Yohan Cabaye as well. Here’s Demba in the official announcement video released earlier today:
The investors are not just in it for a lark; they want to create a successful club.
“Success is our goal – with the club, with the community, with everything that we do. One of our goals is to sign players who have a strong passion for the game, who are competitive and love to win. All my life as a football player, I lived with competition and competition is going to be good for us and for San Diego. I look forward to competing against our fellow California clubs and the rest of the NASL, as well as MLS clubs in the U.S. Open Cup. It is going to be up to us to be the best.”
-Demba Ba; source: NASL
Unlike Didier in Arizona, Ba and Hazard aren’t (yet?) active players in the team, though it should be noted that the team itself doesn’t actually exist just yet either. They have yet to be branded with an official name and yet to pick out a stadium, let alone a squad or a coach. Still, it’s an exciting time for the founders, who are now working towards getting everything ready for next spring.
“San Diego is a beautiful place and the love and passion the people have for soccer made this an easy choice for us. My friends and I are honored to turn this dream into a reality and we can’t wait to get started and win some games.”
-Eden Hazard; source: NASL