Shinawatra’s best friend didn’t get the memo

Just a few days ago, City executive chairman Garry Cook was boasting about how Manchester City will be more popular than Coca-Cola around the world, thanks to the ten year plan of a disgraced former Thai Prime Minister. He also assured us that the Citizens were financially stable and uninterested in attracting additional investors:

“I was in Beijing last week,” began Cook, “sitting with [Thaksin Shinawatra] and the second richest man in China and other guys. They all want to be part of Manchester City. I’ve had representatives of companies from Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait on. Some of those representatives have actually phoned the supporters’ club because they couldn’t find the club number. So I get the supporters’ club secretary saying to me, ‘So the club is for sale, then, because I’ve got Anwar on the phone from Saudi Arabia?’ This club is not for sale.”

The man who wants a break-away league of 10-14 clubs obviously wasn’t kept in the loop on this one…

[Quote: The Guardian]

And the biggest transfer deal of the day is…

Things start looking good for Manchester City on the pitch, but there’s a right old kerfuffle going on behind the scenes at eastlands. According to Sky Sports, Thaksin Shinawatra agreed a deal last night to sell the club to the Abu Dhabi United Group for Development.

Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim, the chief executive of Hydra Properties, will represent the new owners on the board:

“We will release details later, but this is a great event for both the club and Abu Dhabi. Our goal is very simple - to make Manchester City the biggest club in the Premier League, and to begin with, to finish in the top four this season.”

So, just months after Shinawatra sacked Sven Goran Eriksson for failing to meet his ridiculous expectations, along comes a new owner with even tougher targets. Is this good news for Manchester City? Will Garry Cook continue to defend his favourite disgraced Thai? Let us know with a comment below.