Renowned actor on the way to buying a football club: "A serious matter"

The acquisition of sports teams by celebrities has turned in recent years from a marginal investment avenue into a sweeping trend. In the past, it was only billionaires and business people who owned clubs, but today movie stars, musicians, and former athletes are purchasing ownership stakes with the understanding that it is an excellent financial investment, a powerful branding tool, and an asset whose value is soaring. These investments allow stars to combine a passion for sports with leveraging their personal brand to build business empires.

Prominent examples of this include actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who purchased the Welsh club Wrexham and turned it into a global phenomenon that rose from the lower leagues. In the field of basketball, NBA star LeBron James holds stakes in Liverpool and the Boston Red Sox. In the music world, rapper Jay-Z previously held a stake in the Brooklyn Nets, Elton John is identified as the owner and honorary president of Watford, while Ed Sheeran holds about 1.4% of Ipswich Town shares.

Now, actor Hugh Jackman ("Wolverine", "Les Misérables", "The Greatest Showman") reveals that he is in negotiations to purchase a stake in Norwich City. In an interview with the British radio station TalkSport, the actor - who was born in Sydney and holds British citizenship - confirmed that this is a matter he is taking very seriously.

Jackman is not choosing Norwich by chance: his mother, Grace, was born in the city, which made him a loyal fan of "The Canaries" since his childhood in Australia. According to him, he and his father determined the team's identity based on the parents' origin, and his mother decided in favor of Norwich. Jackman had previously rejected an offer to purchase part of the club in 2010, but now, 16 years later, it seems he is changing direction.

As of today, American businessman Mark Attanasio holds about 85% of Norwich's shares, while chef Delia Smith and her husband Michael Wynn-Jones hold another 10%. Jackman, whose net worth is estimated at about 100 million pounds, although he did not reveal what percentage of the club he plans to purchase or the amount of the investment, the very public disclosure hints at an advanced and serious process.

If the deal goes through, Jackman will join a long line of stars who have invested in English football - including Tom Brady (Birmingham City), J.J. Watt (Burnley), graduates of Manchester United's "Class of '92" (Salford), Will Ferrell (Leeds), and even Snoop Dogg and Luka Modrić who hold shares in Swansea. The actor also spoke positively about the team's future and predicted with confidence that both Norwich and Wrexham will be promoted at the end of the current season.