Jan 10, 2007
Valverde to decide on future soon
The on-again off again, confirmed but not confirmed move to T-Mobile is not a dead deal yet. The story keeps being denied, but then fresh reports come back to show that there just may be a link between Alejandro Valverde moving to T-Mobile for a price of $10 million Euros for the next three years. This would make the Green Bullet the highest paid professional cyclist in the Pro Peloton.
Caisse D’Epargne-Illes Balears has been reported to be in a tight situation regarding sponsorship cash. A nice $2 Million Euro buyout may help keep the team afloat. T-Mobile needs a guaranteed rising star since they put all their effort behind Michael Rogers who may or may not pan out as a stage racer.
Eusebio Unzué, the direcotr sportif of Caisse D’Epargne is in Murcia working with sponsors and Valverde himself regarding the situation. Unzué is trying to get the sponsors to shell out more cash to give Valverde a new contract offer.
The current situation could benefit Unzué in two ways. One, he could get cash from T-Mobile for a buyout of the last year of Valverde’s contract. Unzué would get $2 million more than he would have if he simply let Valverde’s contract run out and see him leave for much higher offers. Many of these deals are usually sealed around Tour time, so this is only a six month jump. Two, Valverde is a rising star, and he is possibly being used as leverage to get Caisse D’Epargne and Illes Balears or a new sponsor to bring in some extra cash. Illes Balears has been on the way out as a sponsor only agreeing to stick around until Tour time. The pressure of losing Valverde could help Unzué land extra cash for his team.
My guess is that the situation is most likely number two. Unzué needs his sponsors to step up to pay the rising star and try to seal a new contract before the 2007 Tour de France which could see Valverde’s stock rise. This could help Unzué bring in more sponsorship and more cash, but right now he is in a tight situation since each sponsor does not want to do anything extra. The various denials from T-Mobile seem standard enough, but I just don’t buy the switch especially with fresh Operation Puerto news linking Valverde to Dr. Fuentes. Not that this actually means there is solid evidence anywhere.
Look for Caisse D’Epargne and Illes-Balears or even the Murcian Tourist area to bring in some more sponsorship cash to keep Valverde in the “black” for 2007.