Granada, an ascent that the Arabs like

Between the tears of Jorge Molina after consummating the last relegation of Granada and the burst of joy that toured the Los Cármenes stadium on Saturday, only a little over a year has passed. The Nasrid team returned to the elite after a journey in which their strength at home has been, by far, their best asset. They did not lose a single game there, they had 17 wins and only conceded four draws in 21 home games in which they scored 39 goals and conceded only six goals.

Some brilliant numbers that, without a doubt, contrast, and a lot, with the 11 defeats suffered away from Los Cármenes, in a series of games as visitors in which they won and drew the same number of games, five, and in which they saw their beaten goal up to 24 times while he was only able to score 16 goals. The effective change in the team's presidency that took place in June last year, with the until then counselor Sophia Yang becoming president of the club, replacing Renato Yi, who ceased to preside over both the entity itself and the Chinese company that owns the club , Wuhan DDMC, found the desired effect. And he did it despite the fact that the first of the campaign were also somewhat turbulent.

The start of the team, with Aitor Karanka in charge of the bench, was relatively promising. especially at home. The poor performance that the Granada team exhibited as a visitor under his command, however, would end up leading to his dismissal, at the beginning of November last year, and the arrival of a Paco López with whom, little by little, Granada was improving its performance. An improvement that, in the end, has earned him the return to First Division as champion, even if he had to wait until the last day to sign that condition.

The capital of Chinese origin

How did the capital of Chinese origin come to Granada? The landing took place seven years ago, with the collaboration of the company Media Base Sports (MBS) in which Pere Guardiola, younger brother of the former Barcelona coach and current Manchester City manager, played a prominent role, and with the Chinese group Desports as first protagonist. Subsequently, it would be acquired by the Chinese group Wuhan DDMC, which in turn paid more than 50 million to acquire 70% of the shares of MBS in 2016.. In 2021, finally, this group would take over the remaining 30% of that company, thus separating both Pere Guardiola himself and Jaume Roures' Mediapro from it..

Chinese capital, however, is not alone in its interest in Grenada. Also, quite possibly as a result of the city’s weight in the historical heritage of the Arab world, increasingly strong ties have been established with Middle Eastern countries. Just a few days ago, Khaled Hanafy, secretary general of the Union of Arab Chambers, and Malek Twal, the ambassador of the Arab League, visited the club’s facilities. The visit was hosted by Alfredo García Amado, the club’s general manager, and Khaled Shagwara, the club’s director for the Middle East and North Africa. A visit that the club framed in its expansion project at international level and that now, with its return to the highest category of Spanish soccer, can take an even more remarkable momentum.