Transaction counsel for soccer club acquisition, structured by an attorney who has executed them on both sides of the Atlantic. Born in Kyiv. Trained at Koncha Zaspa. Bar-licensed in Michigan. Owner-operator, FC Santa Coloma.
Few American attorneys have advised on a professional soccer acquisition. Fewer have completed one. That experience, on both continents, is the credential the work requires.
Born in Kyiv, Ukraine in 1985. Relocated to the United States in 1988. Grew up in Michigan, played college soccer in the 2000s, and was invited to trial at FC Dynamo Kyiv. Dynamo were UEFA Champions League semifinalists at the time and one of the four largest clubs on the continent. Trained at Koncha Zaspa, the military base where Dynamo prepares its players.
Earned a J.D. at DePaul University College of Law and was admitted to the Michigan bar in 2013. In 2022, acquired and operated FC Santa Coloma in Andorra. The club reached UEFA Conference League qualifying round three in 2023, the deepest run in Andorran history, and faced AZ Alkmaar, a roster fifty times the budget with two US Men's National Team players. The result was a competitive match.
The credential that matters is having been in the rooms on both continents. Alex Lubyansky · 2024
Today, the practice is twofold. Acquisition Stars handles the M&A and securities work for principals evaluating club acquisition across North America and Europe. Detroit Metro FC runs the European model on American soil, fully funded, players free.
Each project reinforces the others. The advisory is informed by the operator. The operator is informed by the advisory. The book is the public record of both.
One of the only fully funded free clubs in America running the European model on American soil. Free tryouts. Merit only. Players placed on two continents.
Visit DMFC →Selective M&A counsel for principals acquiring professional soccer clubs in North America and Europe. Owner-operator perspective. Managing-partner oversight on every matter.
See the practice →A full operating brief on what the American soccer pyramid is, what it pretends to be, and what would actually replace it. Distributed without registration. Six chapters. Referenced sources.
Read excerpt →A six-chapter operating brief on the American soccer pyramid, what it actually is, and the European mechanics that would replace it. Distributed openly. No registration. No upsell.
Six chapters. Each one a structural argument, not an opinion. The lie. The youth pyramid. The senior circle. The European model. Where America has it backwards. The blueprint anyone can copy.
Distributed openly because the system is meant to be copied. Written by an attorney who has acquired and operated a club in Europe and built one in America from the ground up. No registration. No paywall. No upsell.
Selective M&A counsel for principals evaluating professional soccer club acquisition. Not a generalist sports practice. Engagement is by retainer, scoped to the transaction, with managing-partner oversight on every matter.
MLS, USL, and NWSL transactions. Single-entity structure, designated player rules, territorial exclusivity, and the franchise mechanics that general practice consistently misses.
EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1, and lower-pyramid opportunities. Training compensation, solidarity payments, transfer mechanisms, UEFA coefficient strategy.
South America, North America, Europe. Player development economics, federation regulations, foreign ownership thresholds, and cross-border transfer structure.
An emerging market underserved by sports practices. Lower-division club structure, NCAA interplay, and player compensation frameworks outside the traditional professional system.
One of the only fully funded free professional pathways in American soccer. No pay-to-play. No franchise. No board. No nepotism. Players free. Coaches paid. Tryouts open.
Players have been placed across two continents. Season two is underway. The Merit Cup runs annually, fully funded, paid in full to the winning club. Open to any qualifying side.
Detroit Metro FC is funded by sponsorship and operated as a real club, not a franchise. The entire structure is documented openly because the system is meant to be copied.
The best of what's happening across Detroit Metro FC, the advisory practice, and the manuscript. Player stories. Off-record clips. Sourced reporting. Sent monthly.