Turin Transfer Market: Urbano Cairo Speaks Out Again: “Ready to Sell, But…”

On the day Torino faces Burnley in England, Urbano Cairo spoke again about the possibility of selling the club he acquired in 2005, reiterating a point he has made on other occasions in response to various protests by organized fan groups: The businessman emphasized that he is not opposed to a sale, but has not yet found a serious buyer.

“If someone comes along with the money and the right passion, I might even sell Torino. But no one has come forward yet,” the Granata owner told the ‘Corriere della Sera,’ as he prepares to enter his fifteenth consecutive season in Serie A. Cairo took over the club on September 2, 2005, a month and a half after the dissolution of Torino Calcio, which had effectively nullified the Granata’s promotion to Serie A—a promotion they had earned on the field at the end of the 2004–2005 season.

In the top flight, Torino’s best finish under President Cairo was seventh place, achieved in 2013–14 and 2018–19. In both instances, that finish earned the team a spot in the Europa League: in 2014–15, their European run ended in the round of 16 against Zenit St. Petersburg, while five years later, the Piedmontese club did not even reach the group stage, losing the qualifying playoff to Wolverhampton.