Mysterious Doyen Group investors show their Liga playing cards

Last Sunday a mysterious British group of investors, Doyen Group, which is run by Portuguese businessmen with interests in Spanish soccer, appeared on the internet. A website still under construction revealed the names of 14 players supposedly on its books, mostly from Sporting, Getafe and Atlético. Among the players listed was José Antonio Reyes, who is expected to move to Sevilla for 3.5 million euros, and various other youngsters who were unaware that part of their economic rights belonged to the fund.

"I have no idea why my name appears on the Doyen Group list," said Roberto Canella of Sporting. "Neither the other players nor I have signed anything and we are annoyed about being on this list. We have asked them to take our names off." Also on the list from Sporting are starlets Álvaro Bustos, Álex Serrano and Sergio Álvarez, all Spain youth internationals.

Getafe has three players linked to Doyen Group, including Pedro León, while Manchester United's David de Gea, Villarreal's Borja Valero and Álvaro Negredo of Sevilla are some of the other big names. Real Madrid's Spain under-19 international Álvaro Morata, Valero, Reyes and De Gea have since been removed from the list.

Doyen's presence in La Liga began in October, with small sponsorship investments with the idea of buying part of the rights to up-and-coming players. The group's plan was to invest in players under 24, who would not cost more than three million euros and could multiply its investment in the medium term.