A month before the bankruptcy of independent bank DSB, the bank’s founder Dirk Scheringa suggested raising millions of euros by selling top players belonging to football club AZ which he also owned, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Friday.

The paper says Scheringa hoped the sale would prevent the bank going under, but the central bank opposed the idea, saying it was ‘undesirable’ to make the bank’s future dependent on the sale of football players.
The paper bases its claims on correspondence between DSB and central bank officials.
Scheringa hoped to raise €38.5m with the sales. The FD says the suggestion is notable because Scheringa publicly said he wanted to keep the team intact. The Alkmaar-based club took the premier league title last season.
The discussions took place in September at a time when AZ was busy with the start of the new season and the Champions League. But the club’s technical director Marcel Brands was busy valuing the players rather than focusing on football, the paper says.
Top valued player was top scorer Mounir el Hamdaoui whom Brands thought would raise up to €16m.