Ligue 1: AS Monaco makes a offer to acquire Cercle Bruges (Belgian second division)

"AS Monaco FC (Ligue 1) wish to communicate that the club have made an offer to acquire (with suspensive conditions) a majority stake of the club Cercle Brugge KSV (BEL, Proximus League, 2^nd division)," announced the Monaco club on 15/02/2017, stating that the general assembly of the Belgian club will make a decision before the end of February 2017.

This takeover proposal "is oriented in the AS Monaco development strategy for young talents to enjoy the training qualities of 'the Belgian school". It should enable the youth of the AS Monaco Academy to take a further step in their progression from the reserve team (CFA, French 4^th division) to the first team of AS Monaco," said AS Monaco in a statement.

Cercle Brugge began looking for additional external capital during the 2015-16 season. "The proposed framework was that Cercle was to retain its own culture, but also a reliable and stable partner should be sought. It should show the ambition for promotion to the Jupiler Pro League (Belgian 1^st division) and, to that objective, have the financial and sporting clout (to do so)," said…