New Delhi: After the successful takeover of Welsh club Wrexham by Hollywood duo of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, another famous personality is looking to buy an English club. Wrexham were taken over by the Deadpool actor in 2020 and club gained widespread publicity from their FX Docuseries, ‘Welcome to Wrexham’. They have since managed to gain back-to-back promotions from the Vanarama National League and find themselves in the EFL League One today.
Inspired by the success of Wrexham, American rapper A$AP Rocky, is said to be firmly interested in taking a majority stake in Merseyside-based League Two club, Tranmere Rovers. The Rovers are subject to a £15 million takeover bid from a US-based group of investors which include A$AP Rocky and his lawyer, Joe Tacopina. Tacopina is a celebrity lawyer based out of New York, who was previously the lawyer of former US President, Donald Trump.
Rapper A$AP Rocky is set to buy EFL club Tranmere Rovers, according to reports 📰 pic.twitter.com/N3j6vQyLMx
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) October 21, 2024
A$AP Rocky, who is currently in a relationship with fellow rapper Rihanna, took on the services of Tacopina given his current legal proceedings. Tacopina is defending the rapper on two allegations of assault after he was accused of shooting at another rapper, A$AP Relli. While Relli only suffered minor injuries, A$AP Rocky has not pled guilty to the charges.
A$AP Rocky isn’t the only American celebrity to have been inspired by Wrexham’s successful takeover by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Post Wrexham’s takeover, Black Panther actor Michael B.Jordan became a minority owner at Premier League side AFC Bournemouth, when an investment firm Jordan is part of bought the club. This was followed by seven-time Super Bowl winner, Tom Brady buying a minority stake in EFL League one club Birmingham City.
Who are A$AP Rocky and Joe Tacopina?
A$AP Rocky is an American rapper from Harlem, New York who has won three BET Awards and two MTV awards and has been nominated for two Grammy awards as well. Since May 2021, the rapper confirmed that he is in a relationship with pop superstar Rihanna. They’re currently parents to two boys born a year apart. She gave birth to the pair’s first child in May 2022 before birthing their second child in August 2023.
He has recorded a total of four studio albums with the fourth one, titled Don’t Be Dumb, is set to release later this year. His 2012 single which featured fellow rappers Drake, 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar, marked his first entry on Billboard Top 100 and earned him his first Grammy nomination for the Best rap song at the 56th Grammy Awards. He has previously been involved in legal battles in Sweden and is currently in the midst of a trial which is being handled by his lawyer and partner in the Tranmere Rovers bid, Joe Tacopina.
Donald Trump’s former lawyer Joe Tacopina is leading a consortium that wants to buy English League Two side Tranmere Rovers and replicate Wrexham’s star-fulled rise.
Tacopina has been in talks with Tranmere’s owners for at least six months and his proposed takeover is now only… pic.twitter.com/Q2W7qTjaNl
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) September 20, 2024
Joe Tacopina is the one who is fronting the takeover. They’re looking to acquire 80% stake in the club for £15million from current owner Mark Palios. If the deal goes through, it’ll be a big step towards glory for the club considering Tacopina’s history with football clubs. The American has been through his fair share of football clubs over the past decade or so. His first foray into the footballing world was with Italian outfit AS Roma.
He was part of the investment group that took over the Italian club in 2011 but divested to takeover fellow Italian club Bologna in 2014 and became their president. He then moved to another Italian club Venezia in 2015, taking them from the fourth tier of Italian football to the second tier before moving to new pastures in the form of another Italian side, SPAL in 2021, where he still serves as president.
