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Blackburn and Everton are £500m targets for Arab sheikh
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Posts: 8,869November 2011 the mega-rich crown prince of Qatar is back in the market for a Premier League club after giving up on Manchester United.
And with £500million to spend, he has fixed his sights on strugglers Everton and Blackburn Rovers.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, heir to the throne of Qatar, had been bidding to buy United.
But he decided that the asking price of around £2billion was too much – with Old Trafford’s controlling Glazer family in no mood to do business.
Now People Sport can reveal that the prince’s representatives, both in Qatar and working with influential figures in England, have been investigating Everton and Blackburn as their latest ‘projects’.
The prince’s company already has a major stake in French outfit Paris Saint-Germain and there are family ties with Spanish side Malaga.
Now he wants a Premier League club to buy and stock with stars.
A top Arab source revealed: “The sheikh had his heart set on Manchester Untied, but now he knows he must go elsewhere and find a club – perhaps to prove a point.
“There is a budget set aside to buy a club, but it has to be right. They want to spend most of the money on players to reach the Champions League.
“This is a plan to get Qatar high profile in the best league in the world.
“Although money is no object, they will not be ripped off.”
United’s loss could be a rival club’s gain as the amount of cash being spoken about could transform a smaller club into top-four contenders – and raise the stakes at the summit of the table.Everton are up for sale at the right price, with interest being shown by the Indian-based Jain Group, but the valuation is putting off Al-Thani.
A leading football power broker has been working on the deal in recent weeks, but it is proving a tough nut to crack because the numbers do not appeal to the Arabs.
Bill Kenwright is looking for around £120m for Everton, although that price is negotiable. The Toffees are carrying debts and there will be a massive bill if the buyer wants to build a new ground.
Instead, bizarrely, Blackburn have emerged as an option – with insiders claiming the Qataris have been to Lancashire and India in the past week.
Rovers were bought by the Venky’s Group a year ago, but the Indians have suffered problems – with results on the field and their image off it.
Face
If the Qataris could buy Rovers at the Venky’s purchase price, and inherit their debt, it would leave an unbelievable amount of cash for new players.
However, sources at Ewood Park claim that not even a whacking profit would make the Rao family walk away now.
They have invested heavily in making Blackburn ‘India’s Premier League club’ and they do not want to lose face.
Word of the potential Qatari investor has flashed around football in the past few days, and agents working for other clubs have been trying frantically to court them to find out if they are interested.
As one senior Premier League official said: “This would be Christmas come early and often for someone.
“The big clubs are either not for sale or just not interested.
“But one of the rest of us could get really lucky and come into a fortune at a time when so many are tightening their belts.”
Football fan Sheikh Tamim managed to get his company’s name on Barcelona’s shirts, a remarkable development.
But United proved outside his grasp, with the Glazers refusing to sit down with him.
Source: http://www.people.co.uk/sport/football/news/2011/11/13/blackburn-and-everton-are-500m-targets-for-arab-sheikh-102039-23556691/ -
Posts: 5,465November 2011 i wish, and bill putting off buyers by asking for to much money, who said his heart was in everton, in the cold light of day all hes really bothered about like most is making a fat profit.
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Posts: 8,869November 2011cjohno said:
i wish, and bill putting off buyers by asking for to much money, who said his heart was in everton, in the cold light of day all hes really bothered about like most is making a fat profit.
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When it comes to Everton I live by 'if it's too good to be true then it probably is.' -
Posts: 423November 2011 To be honest, i see the stadium as being one the major issues, 120M isn't that bad for top club we've got a great structure, wages aren't so high, debts aren't so high. but, how much would cost to build a new stadium 150-200M that added to the 120M asking and it is a lot.
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Posts: 2,547November 2011 I refuse to believe this for one minute, BUT say it were true...... The guy has £500m to spend...... SURELY he won't mind using £150m of it to help rid us of Kenwright and his cronies??? If that's what it takes of course, because we know Kenwright ain't gonna budge on that.
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Posts: 9,117November 2011 But 1590mill to get rid of Bill
300mill on new staduium doesn't leave much for the squad.
It's also the time frame.
How long willit take to get the new stadium 3-4 years minimum
These Sheikhs want sucess now -
Posts: 10November 2011 I'm not sure if I believe this price tag excuse. Chelsea were sold to Abramovich in 2003 for roughly a deal worth £130 million and If I recall correctly Chelsea were worse off financially than us at that time with debt etc. Chelsea were also at the time (and still arguably) a smaller club than us when you compare history/fan base etc. London club was no doubt attractive, however £150 million for a club, including assets/players isn't a bad deal in my book. If they have £500 million to spend £150 million is nothing, even adding our £35million debts into the mix. A new stadium would come, even assisted by council/3rd party. Also the naming rights available could even cover a stadium cost, look at Man City's deal. It's a case of the club/history and potential being sold to a buyer. With £500m (as reported in People, pinch of salt!) that would be enough to make Everton compete and Champions again and our club and potential would far outweigh the initial outlay. We are a hugh football club, so I don't see the £150m as an excuse.
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Posts: 305November 2011 If I was looking to do what the Sheikh is trying to do I cannot think of a better club than Everton to invest in.
He is looking to get instant success well that is closer with Everton than the Blackburns of this world. There is a strong foundation of a squad to build on with a promising youth program.
With Regards to the Stadium there is no better statement to show what they will deliver in 2022 than to build a state of the Art stadium in the UK. For promotional purposes they can build a village like City and benefit from the naming rights. Also they are not stupid enough to build the whole thing on their budget but raise finance therefore still leaving a decent pot to buy players.
Qatar have invested a lot in sport (Host the first Arab games in December) and have a very good facility called Aspire that develops youth football which could prove great sinergy with Evertons youth program. Infact they recently hammered Uniteds Youth team 5-1 with some impressive football.
Finally Everton has something that Qatar crave for History. Add to that our strong support and they could really create the platform they require through this investment.
However like everyone else I do not hold out hope that it will happen. I don't think BK is over greedy but I do feel that he is too full of himself with his belief that he is the best person to sell the club (from investors I have heard than he is more interested in their knowledge of Everton's History than ability to financial support and grow the club). He is over protective and shows no sales skills focusing on the wrong aspects of a business deal.
BK needs to market the club to its potential and to do that he needs to step away and leave it to professional. -
Posts: 2,557November 2011 Just as Abramovich bought Chelsea as an expensive life insurance policy (this action gave him a high profile in the U.K. made him a populist and thus prevented him becoming a victim of the Putin/Medvedev razzia and receiving the Berezovsky treatment ) Sheik Tamim may well have similar motives given that there are those within his own country that are calling for him to be stoned to death because of his homosexuality.
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Posts: 24,745November 2011escla said:
Just as Abramovich bought Chelsea as an expensive life insurance policy (this action gave him a high profile in the U.K. made him a populist and thus prevented him becoming a victim of the Putin/Medvedev razzia and receiving the Berezovsky treatment ) Sheik Tamim may well have similar motives given that there are those within his own country that are calling for him to be stoned to death because of his homosexuality.
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You say he's gay mate??
Get him in quick.
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Posts: 2,557November 2011sambo applecart said:escla said:
Just as Abramovich bought Chelsea as an expensive life insurance policy (this action gave him a high profile in the U.K. made him a populist and thus prevented him becoming a victim of the Putin/Medvedev razzia and receiving the Berezovsky treatment ) Sheik Tamim may well have similar motives given that there are those within his own country that are calling for him to be stoned to death because of his homosexuality.
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You say he's gay mate??
Get him in quick.-----------------
Even if we have to play home games in pink ?
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Posts: 24,745November 2011escla said:sambo applecart said:escla said:
Just as Abramovich bought Chelsea as an expensive life insurance policy (this action gave him a high profile in the U.K. made him a populist and thus prevented him becoming a victim of the Putin/Medvedev razzia and receiving the Berezovsky treatment ) Sheik Tamim may well have similar motives given that there are those within his own country that are calling for him to be stoned to death because of his homosexuality.
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You say he's gay mate??
Get him in quick.-----------------
Even if we have to play home games in pink ?-----------------
If he buys messi who cares!
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Posts: 95November 2011 dont get yer hopes up apparantly they have already been put off by the asking price and are ready to bid for Blackburn.
Another one slipa through the net.
Our directors arent looking for too much though....... When Blackburn are champs league challengers i'm suee Kenwright will be saying 'that could have been us if we were in the right place at the right time" -
Posts: 7,950November 2011 For once i might agree with BK here, they cant be right for us if they think 150mil is too much and are looking at Blackburn as an alternative?!!!! Cant be that ambitious can they........
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Posts: 2,162November 2011 It's a time where confidence is key about getting the club is sold. No excuses, the club is for sale and is a matter of time, when eventually a good buyer is given a go for it. Actually, patience is another key word.
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Posts: 2,547November 2011HOWIE8 said:
For once i might agree with BK here, they cant be right for us if they think 150mil is too much and are looking at Blackburn as an alternative?!!!! Cant be that ambitious can they........
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According to reports, Blackburn are available for £25m so gonna be more attractive at a cheaper rate, and therefore they'll be able to have more money available to buy players. -
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Posts: 32November 2011escla said:
Just as Abramovich bought Chelsea as an expensive life insurance policy (this action gave him a high profile in the U.K. made him a populist and thus prevented him becoming a victim of the Putin/Medvedev razzia and receiving the Berezovsky treatment ) Sheik Tamim may well have similar motives given that there are those within his own country that are calling for him to be stoned to death because of his homosexuality.
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He's an Arab. Of course he's gay. It's traditional. They just don't admit it since they adopted Islam. The whole region is one big Narnia.
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