Businesswoman eyes takeover and relocation of Barcelona-based football club

According to Spanish sources, a businesswoman is looking to add to her impressive existing portfolio of football clubs – and has laid eyes on a Barcelona-based side as the leading option.

Michele Kang has reportedly set her sights on Levante Las Planes, a top-flight club based in the Baix Llobregat suburbs of Barcelona and currently competing in Liga F. They are lingering dangerously close to the drop zone though, despite picking up their first win since November 12 on Sunday.

Kang is no stranger to football club ownership, and is the majority owner at three women’s football clubs: Olympique Lyonnais Féménin, London City Lionesses and Washington Spirit.

But this may be her most challenging acquisition yet, with the club likely to relocate from their home at Sant Joan Despí to a 4,100-seater stadium in Badalona – and the Levante Las Planas name would make way as the club rebrands to reflect its new location, according to ARA.cat’s Marc Gironès.

It’s a move with potential to alienate the club’s already small fanbase, in the hopes that over time, Badalona locals will develop an affection for the newly-relocated club – rather than commuting in to watch the indomitable Barça Femení.

The reigning European champions were recently crowned as the 2023/24 Liga F winners, and with their home games currently played at the 6,000-seater Estadí Johan Cruyff just a thirty minute walk away from Baix Llobregat, some – including Kang – may view the Blaugrana as one of the forces stunting Levante Las Planas’ growth.

Levante Las Planas’ prospective new home venue, the Estadí Municipal de Badalona, is just thirty minutes away from Baix Llobregat by car, but for those reliant on public transport in a city as well-connected as Barcelona, the journey time increases to more than an hour.