Are you 24 or older?

Help us verify your age by providing an honest response. This site contains gambling advertising for 24+.

Age-restricted content

You’re not old enough to view betting content. You’ll be redirected to the homepage.

alt
Goal.com
LiveTickets
Sommer Juventus InterGetty Images
Gianluca Minchiotti

Translated by

Estrela Amadora become German for 40 million: among the new owners are Mats Hummels, Thomas Muller and Yann Sommer

Estrela da Amadora
Transfers
Y. Sommer

Historic change of ownership for the Portuguese club

Estrela da Amadora, historic turning point: 90% of the club passes to a German group for €40 million


Estrela da Amadora have reached a landmark moment in their history. The Portuguese club have sold 90% of their SAD, the company that runs professional football, to a German investment group for €40 million. According to news agency Lusa, it is the biggest sale of a controlling stake ever recorded for a Portuguese club.


The agreement was completed on Thursday and is expected to be officially announced today, Monday. The group led by German investors will now take control of the SAD, while Estrela da Amadora will retain the remaining 10%.


Three leading figures in international football stand out among the names involved in the deal: Thomas Müller, now at the Vancouver Whitecaps, goalkeeper Yann Sommer and former defender Mats Hummels, who recently retired from playing. Their presence gives extra weight to a project set to change the face of the Amadora club.


Johannes Mosmang will lead the new era, a 35-year-old German executive with more than a decade of experience at Bayern Munich. He will take over as president of the SAD from Paulo Lopo, the man who has guided Estrela through their spectacular rise in recent years.


Francisco Lopo will stay alongside him, with the outgoing president's son continuing in the role of chief executive officer. That gives the club some operational continuity alongside the change in ownership.


  • The numbers

    The numbers tell the scale of the operation better than any words, it reads on portugalresident.com. When Paulo Lopo arrived at Estrela in 2020, he took over the club for just €72,000. The team were then playing in the Campeonato de Portugal, a long way from the top professional level.


    Six years on, the project has delivered a remarkable rise: Estrela have climbed through the divisions to reclaim their place in the Primeira Liga, where they are now in their fourth straight season.


    Now, with the sale of 90% of the SAD for €40 million, that stake has been valued at more than 500 times Lopo's initial investment.


    Over the past few hours, the outgoing president has hinted on social media that his adventure is nearing its end. Lopo posted a photograph of himself on the pitch at the Estádio José Gomes, alongside the 11 trophies won by Estrela, in what appears to be a farewell to his era.




    • Advertisement

  • The club

    Founded in 1932 and based in Amadora, in the north-west of Lisbon, Estrela play their home matches at the Estadio Jose Gomes, also known as the Estadio da Reboleira.


    The high point in the club's history came in 1990, when Estrela won the Portuguese Cup and booked their place in the following season's Cup Winners' Cup. Their best league finish, meanwhile, remains seventh place in 1997-98.


    The club returned to the Portuguese top flight in 2023 after collapsing and restarting in the lower divisions. Now, only three years later, another revolution has arrived: EUR40 million, a German investment group in charge and three world football stars involved in the project.


    A new era is beginning for Estrela da Amadora, and the transformation from a small provincial club into an international project has only just begun.



    • ENJOYED THIS STORY?

    Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

    Add as preferred source on Google
Liga Portugal
Nacional crest
Nacional
NAC
Estrela da Amadora crest
Estrela da Amadora
EST