Michael Appleton has revealed he has been able to sit down for a conversation with Gabriel Brener whilst he has been in the UK over the last week.
Former Houston Dynamo majority shareholder Brener is a shareholder of Global Football Partners (GFP) – the entity that purchased Charlton Athletic from Thomas Sandgaard in the summer.
The private investor was spotted at The Valley during the Addicks’ 2-2 draw with Blackpool on Saturday.
Mexican-American Brener became the majority shareholder of the Texas-based MLS side in late 2015, eventually selling the Orange Crush to Ted Segal in 2021.
Dynamo finished in the bottom four of the Western Conference in four of Brener’s five full seasons at the helm, with The Athletic describing the Texans as “a small-market club with its operation despite operating in the United States’ fourth largest city.”
Brener is understood to be one of GFP’s largest shareholders, along with fellow countryman Joshua Friedman. They aren’t expected to take a hands-on role in SE7, with the club’s in-house board running the show for the ownership group.
Appleton said that he had sat down for a chat with Brener a couple of days before last week’s trip to Shrewsbury.
“I had half an hour before training,” explained the Charlton boss.
“Just getting to know each other a little bit more. I’m aware of his background. He clearly had done his due diligence like you’d expect. A lot of the football side in terms of the interviews was with the likes of Andy [Scott, technical director] and the like.
“It was good. A really good chat. A really positive chat. If we can do anything similar to what he did with one of his sides in the states in terms of where he took them and where he ended up leaving them then every Charlton fan will be happy.
“There’s the board that there is in terms of Andy, Simon [Lenegan], Charlie [Methven], Jim [Rodwell] and Ed [Warrick]. They’ll be my line managers and I’ll be dealing with them on a regular basis.”
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