Thaksin in 108m bid for Man City

Manchester City were on Friday night the subject of a shock 108 million (Bt7 billion) takeover bid by former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the London daily The Sun reported yesterday.

And as part of his stunning offer, Thaksin promised to make 50 million of that money immediately available for new players, the paper said without naming sources.

The proposal came at the end of a week when it appeared former City full-back Ray Ranson had the upper hand in the fight for the club.

But while he could offer only 20 million for players, Thaksin has more than doubled that.

He wants to take control of the club for 58 million, which will include buying shares and paying off chairman John Wardle and his business partner David Makin.

The pair are owed 20 million in personal loans to City, but Thaksin, 57, has a personal fortune of around 2 billion.

He worked as a policeman before taking advantage of a number of business opportunities.

His most lucrative was Advanced Info Services, Thailand's largest mobile-phone operator.

Thaksin, elected in 2001, became the first Thai PM to lead an elected government through a full four-year term.

He won a landslide re-election in 2005 but was overthrown in a bloodless military coup last September and now intends to set up home permanently in the UK.

He tried to buy Liverpool but failed and is now intent on getting City and making them a Premiership force.

City are already sceptical about Ranson's offer, but Ranson remains good friends with prominent board member and ex-City team-mate Dennis Tueart.

There is little doubt Thaksin has the cash, and Wardle has always maintained he would only sell for the good of the club.

By that he primarily meant that a major investment could be made on the playing side.

The Nation

He sounds desperate to buy some type of football club in England. Half that money would need to go in paying off debts. City don`t have their own stadium, they lease theirs from the council, which is the stadium built for the Commonwealth games a few years ago in Manchester.

Out of interest Manchester United play City next Saturday in the local derby match.

Thaksin on brink of Bt7 billion Man City takeover

Ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is on the verge of a 100 million pounds bid for Manchester City.

The People says City officials are expecting a positive response from the billionaire Thai businessman this week when the due diligence process ends.

And that could lead to a summer takeover by Thaksin who is desperate to become a Premiership club owner after failing with a bid to buy Liverpool two years ago, reported Tribalfootball.com on Tuesday.

Meanwhile Guardian Unlimited online reported that sacking of Stuart Pearce from Manchester City's manager will usher in a multi-million-pound revolution that will see the deposed Thaksin seized control of the club and a replacement manager appointed from abroad.

While Pearce was packing his belongings yesterday, Thaksin was secretly visiting the stadium for the first time and has made it clear he does not want to appoint another British manager.

Thaksin's takeover bid has progressed more quickly than had been anticipated and there could be an official announcement about the next stage of the process within 48 hours.

G้rard Houllier, the former Liverpool manager now in charge of Lyon, will be among those considered to replace Pearce, along with the PSV manager, Ronald Koeman, and the former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri. Sven-Goran Eriksson, however, has already been discounted.

Guardian reported it is clear that Thaksin, who was on Monday given a VIP tour of the City of Manchester Stadium, and his international team of advisers were consulted about Pearce's sacking in advance.

City's chief executive, Alistair Mackintosh, and the chairman, John Wardle, had decided several weeks ago that Pearce would have to go. Thaksin, who will retain Mackintosh in his present position, took advice from his English representatives and agreed.

Pearce was informed in a lunchtime meeting with Mackintosh and Wardle on Monday but he had been aware the news was coming for several days. His intention is to get another job as quickly as possible, ideally in the south to be nearer his family home, but his reputation has been tarnished after an arduous season in which City finished only four points above the relegation zone.

Thaksin, currently in a period of due diligence, has a personal fortune estimated at around 2bn and will make significant funds available for new players, possibly as much as 50m. If everything goes according to plan, his financial muscle could also be critical in terms of hiring a manager who would normally be seen as out of the club's scope, in terms of both money and ambition.

However, the Thai's approach does not come without baggage. Human rights campaigners accused Thaksin's administration of various offences, especially in relation to a hardline anti-drugs campaign. The pressure group Human Rights Watch claims this led to more than 2,000 extra-judicial killings in Thailand in 2003.

The following year Thaksin launched a bid to buy Liverpool but the deal collapsed amid suspicions about his motives and funding. Eight months ago he was overthrown by a military junta and warned against returning to Thailand. He owns several properties, including one near London.

If the deal is closed it will put City on a financial level that has seemed unimaginable during the Pearce era. The former England captain has had to work to a tight budget since replacing Kevin Keegan in March 2005 and his lack of success in the transfer market - most notably, the ฃ6m Georgios Samaras - was key to his departure. Pearce, quite simply, was not trusted to spend Thaksin's money.

The club needs strengthening in defence, midfield and particularly attack, having not scored at home since January 1. They are resigned to losing Sylvain Distin on a free transfer this summer. Joey Barton will be another one to leave, though City have postponed a disciplinary hearing into Barton's training-ground attack on Ousmane Dabo that was due to be held today. The club intend to announce several more departures today.

The Nation

Pearce is still in charge of the England Under 21 side, but considering his name was actually mentioned some time ago for the full England team management things have gone downhill fast for him.

City ended up 14th in the Premiership, and their style of football was less than `attacking.` The chairman at the beginning of this season was talking about challenging for Europe, but that was never really likely. No big surprise Pearce has gone, though I always thought he was an honest sort of guy.