Ħamrun Spartans president Joseph Portelli has seen a €1.3 million bid to acquire Italian Serie D side Siena Calcio rejected.

According to a report by Gazzetta di Siena, the J.P. Portelli Group submitted an offer worth €1.3 million in an attempt to take control of the historic Tuscan club. However, Siena’s top officials opted to turn down the proposal.

The story was later confirmed by J.P. Portelli Group chief executive officer Marcel Bonnici.
“Yes, I can confirm that we made a bid for Siena Calcio, but the offer was rejected by the Italian club,” Bonnici told Times of Malta.

The report revealed that Portelli’s group initially tabled an offer of €1 million for full ownership of the club. In an effort to convince Siena’s owners, a second and improved bid of €1.3 million was subsequently submitted.

Despite the rejection, negotiations may not be over. The report suggested that talks could continue and did not rule out the possibility of a third offer, potentially rising to €1.5 million.

Siena president Jonas Bodin, a Swedish businessman, is reportedly not inclined to sell the club outright but remains open to the idea of bringing in new partners.

Meanwhile, Gazzetta di Sicilia described Portelli’s proposal as a serious sporting project, aimed at restoring financial stability and implementing a solid technical programme at a club that has endured difficult years.

Portelli is understood to be particularly interested in investing in Siena’s youth sector as part of a long-term plan to help the club climb back up the Italian football pyramid. It has long been his ambition to guide an Italian club from the lower divisions to Serie A.

Siena enjoyed a golden period in the early 2000s, earning promotion to Serie A in the 2003–04 season and remaining in the top flight for four years. They returned to Serie A in 2010–11 but were relegated two seasons later.

In July 2014, severe financial difficulties led the club to file for bankruptcy, forcing them to restart from the fifth-tier Eccellenza before eventually settling in Serie D.

In recent months, Portelli has openly expressed his desire to invest in Italian football. Last September, he admitted that taking over Serie B side Sampdoria — another club facing financial uncertainty — would be a “dream”.

Sampdoria, Serie A champions in 1991 and European Cup runners-up a year later, are among Italy’s most decorated clubs but are currently struggling financially.

“The truth is, as I have always said, that if, God forbid, Sampdoria were to go bankrupt, it would be the ambition of every president and investor to take over such a club,” Portelli told Times of Malta in October.
“So if they ever went into administration, I wouldn’t even blink twice about it — even if they had to start again from Serie D.”