Duchatelet: "I think about this as a long-term investment"

Beküldte Zoli - 2012, február 5 - 12:37

Roderick Duchatelet, the club president spoke about his opinion on the stadium, the player policy, the youth team and many other topics during a press conference on Friday. He also announced that dr. Eszter Gyarmati will take over most of the responsibilities of Filips Dhondt, the former co-general manager, who is now working at AS Monaco.

Transfer and player policy and the Belgian connection:
- We had and still has the chance to sign Belgian players, and one has indeed joined the squad already. However, I think that Újpest has its own identity and youth policy. I trust Nikolas Poesmans's ability, he is really talnted, but didn't get the opportunity in the past half year. In the short run it surely is a good decision to get experienced players, but we are interested in giving the chance to young Hungarians to prove their skills. Right now, we are facing the rather interesting situation that in most cases it is more expensive to sign a Hungarian footballer than a foreign one.

The goals of the near future and long-term plans:
- This season we are building a foundation of the future. We could get one or two big names with a huge investment, but I don't believe that this policy works in the long run. I feel that as I spend more and more time in Hungary, the more certain I become about that I have made the right decision when I have bought a share in Újpest. I think only in long term, with a massive investment, but only in football.

The new controlling structure after the departure of Filips Dhondt:
- We shared his former role between the three of us, that is Eszter Gyarmati as club director, István Csehi as general manager and me, as the club president. Everybody is responsible for their own field of specialty, while Zoran Szplisjak makes the football-related decisions and I consult and negotiate with the players. Rgiht now we don't really need a sport director.

The youth teams and the stadium:
- We would like to develop a youth training center in cooperation with UTE. Our managerial staff knows the center of Standard Liege very well, that could be the prime example. About the stadium: I believe in a time of a couple or more months we will be able to say more. Rgiht now we don't really have the chance asthe current owner wouldn't like to carry out a large-scale project.

The sponsors:
- The most important aspect is to find a sponsor which could appear on the team's kit. I have started more negotiations and I hope that we will have a main sponsor by the next season.

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