For Jai Agarwal, the appeal of European football was not found in the bright lights of its biggest clubs. It was in Guarda, a relatively small Portuguese city where a team, a community and an opportunity came together at just the right time.When Agarwal and his business partner Vansh first visited Guarda, they saw more than a club on the verge of promotion. They saw a team that felt like a family, a city positioned between Porto, Madrid and Lisbon, and a football project that was already moving in the right direction. Rather than take on the cost and risk of a bigger European club, Agarwal chose to invest where he felt he could make a genuine difference.“It seemed like the right time to get onto a ship that was already sailing at its peak,” he said to TimesofIndia.com.Now, having acquired a majority stake in Guarda FC, Agarwal’s ambitions stretch beyond climbing the Portuguese football pyramid. He wants the club to become a bridge between Europe and Asia — a place where Indian and Asian footballers can find a pathway into European football.“We’re very excited to bring Asian football to Europe because we believe that Asian football has great potential,” he said.“I would love to see more Indians getting into the game,” he said, adding that multiple Indian investors could potentially create synergies by bringing talent from India and other developing football markets into Europe.Agarwal also sees the potential of a multi-club model, although he stressed that such an expansion would come much later. He pointed to City Football Group’s ownership structure, which includes Manchester City and Girona, as an example of how such a model can work.“For me, this is just the start,” he said. “Obviously, a multi-club model makes sense. I think it’s something worth looking at, but it would come much later in the pipeline, once we’re settled into Guarda and once our investment proves to be a good one, hopefully.”While holding ambitions of finding a bridge between Asia and Portugal, Guarda itself intends to grow into a stronger club. Over the next three to five years, Agarwal wants the team to reach Liga 3, where greater media exposure, television rights and national sponsorship opportunities could provide a stronger financial foundation.“Liga 3 is definitely in the pipeline because, obviously, it comes with media rights and TV rights, as well as national sponsors,” he said. “Obviously, the sky is the limit with the team we have at hand, and we would love to go even higher than that.”
