Sulaiman Al-Fahim, who is poised to become the new owner of Manchester City, believes he can make City as big as Chelsea, according to press reports yesterday.
Al-Fahim heads the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG). He has agreed to acquire a majority stake in City, subject to due diligence, from former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who will remain on the club’s board as a shareholder and honorary president.
Abramovich spent more than £150 million (US$268 million) in his first year at Chelsea, making them one of English soccer’s two most successful clubs over the past five years.
Al-Fahim believes he can make a similar impact.
“I think it will be the same,” he said. “We would like to see Manchester City fighting for trophies in every tournament. We don’t just want Manchester City to be challenging for trophies in England, but also in the Champions League.”
Al-Fahim acknowledged that the revolution will take time for a club who finished only ninth last season.
“A place in the Champions League is quite a jump from last season, but we are ready to sit down with the manager, find out the players he would like, and bring the right players into the club,” he said. “This season we would like to be a lot better than last season, and we are eager for trophies next season.”
Al-Fahim expects ADUG to be given the green light for their takeover of the Premier League club imminently.
He confirmed that ADUG had also considered investing in Arsenal, Newcastle and Liverpool before pressing ahead with the City buy-out, which is thought to be worth around £150 million pounds.
“It is really about formalities,” Al-Farim said. “It is more about securing approval from the authorities in England, such as the Premier League. I don’t foresee any problems with the club itself. I need to check my diary and come over to England as soon as possible so I can meet people from the Premier League.”
“We were attracted to the Premier League itself, and Arsenal, Newcastle and Liverpool were also possibilities,” he said. “We are very happy to become the new owners of Manchester City, one of the oldest clubs in England.”
The Premier League has to give the takeover the go-ahead and will carry out their standard fit and proper persons test of Al-Fahim, a billionaire property developer.
Al-Fahim will focus his efforts on putting together a new board at Eastlands, and he suggested that a former player who enjoys a good rapport with the fans could be appointed.
“We need to bring in several top board members over the next three or four months, and they will be able to help,” he said. “We also would like to bring in people who have a good knowledge of the English market, and maybe someone who the fans will appreciate. We have to be careful to bring in the right people.”
Al-Farim said that he was unable to publicly reveal financial details of the takeover or the stake Shinawatra would retain in the club, but a statement released on Monday on behalf of ADUG said that Shinawatra would be “without any administrative responsibilities.”
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