The Premier League have always been the favourites among Malaysian fans, but Levante believes it’s time for La Liga to break the local market.
Levante International Business Development Officer, Luca Donati said the interests in La Liga from Malaysian fans have convinced them to travelled 20 hours to Kuala Lumpur, with the purpose of engaging with the audience in Asia.
“People here are starving for football, fans support mostly the Premier League teams, but we think there’s space for us, they want to watch La Liga.
“Money from TV rights coming most from abroad and club like Levante could help La Liga grow internationally by making partnership and connections in Asia markets especially Malaysian market.”
Donati also believes through several partnership with local team and brand, they could bring Malaysian footballers to play in La Liga one day.
“One of our dream is to have Asian footballer playing for Levante. Why not? it’s not easy though, players have to maintain certain level to compete.
“In our academy, we already have Chinese players, but it’s up to them to make the first step in La Liga.
“Maybe not just footballers, futsal players also could play in Spain.
La Liga club Levante aims to break Malaysian market
The Premier League have always been the favourites among Malaysian fans, but Levante believes it’s time for La Liga to break the local market.
Levante International Business Development Officer, Luca Donati said the interests in La Liga from Malaysian fans have convinced them to travelled 20 hours to Kuala Lumpur, with the purpose of engaging with the audience in Asia.
“People here are starving for football, fans support mostly the Premier League teams, but we think there’s space for us, they want to watch La Liga.
“Money from TV rights coming most from abroad and club like Levante could help La Liga grow internationally by making partnership and connections in Asia markets especially Malaysian market.”
PROGRESS
Despite having to compete with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Levante have been progressing well in the last 10 years.
“Everyday we have a mission to build a better club. 10 years ago our situation is critical because there’s 90 million euros in debt, now we have eliminate them all.
“Last year, we have projected close to 100 million euros, thanks to the transfer of Jefferson Lerma to Bournemouth. Now, more players are interested to play with Levante.
“We have to fight with big teams. It’s a very competitive league. We always target players that we can reach and we know we can convince the player.
“It’s not easy but at the same time it’s not that difficult if we do things properly, with the right person and the right player, you can manage the club.”
DEVELOPMENT
Levante is proud to boasts that they have their own academy players currently playing in La Liga.
“On the ground, we started from players age 7 years old, 8 years old who will progress to the first-team.
“Now we have several players, Levante always must promote players from academy. First, it’s like an investment since we could sell our own players.
“Second, the player’s dream of playing in La Liga become true, but reality it’s not that easy.”
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Levante have qualified to the Europa League in recent years, but playing Champions League would be a “dream”, according to Donati.
“It’s not easy to qualify in Champions League. Our target is to remain in the first division every season.
“But why not Champions League? We are dreamers.
“I just hope we didn’t take too long to qualify in Champions League.”
ASIAN POTENTIAL
Donati also believes through a long-term partnership with local teams and brands, they could bring Malaysian footballers to play in La Liga one day.
“One of our dream is to have Asian footballer playing for Levante. Why not? it’s not easy though, players have to maintain certain level to compete.
“In our academy, we already have Chinese players, but it’s up to them to make the first step in La Liga.
“Maybe not just footballers, futsal players could also play in Spain.”
FUTURE
Levante aims to continuously move forward, and Donati believes engaging partnership in Malaysia is the first step towards greater success in the future.
“Everyday we try to move forward. We try to improve in terms of financial support, engage with partners, move forward as a brand.
“We are proud to be the first La Liga club to partner with futsal team in Malaysia. It’s a great achievement for us.
“It’s not just about money, we are here to create bridges between countries. It’s also not just about football, we have female teams, futsal team and esports team as well.
There’s always a risk, but Donati hopes Levante and Malaysia could help out each other.
“We engage with partners that believe in Levante program. So we hope Levante can give a lot to Malaysia and Malaysia can also give something back to Levante.”