Striker wants to join Ferdinand and Berbatov on £110,000-a-week

The Sun have taken a day off from desperately trying to find links between Sir David Richards, Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim, Thaksin Shinawatra and Portsmouth to focus on Carlos Tevez’s future.

They claim that the “greedy” striker has demanded a £15,000-a-week pay rise so that his wages match those of Dimitar Berbatov - the striker he outscored last season despite starting less games.

The Spoiler doesn’t think the demands are too outrageous. After all, when Tevez agreed his initial wages in 2007, it was after a season at West Ham where

Entrepreneur relieved of duties at company he started

Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim - the man who was once thought to own Manchester City even though he apparently has nothing to do with them - is facing a spot of bother in the United Arab Emirates.

The man who is expected to take the reins at Portsmouth in a £60m deal has been relieved of his position of CEO of Hydra Properties, one of Abu Dhabi’s leading property developers.

Al-Fahim - pictured above with an old lady and her grandson - has been “promoted” (read: “demoted”) to as directorial position at Hydra, as one of the firm’s biggest projects is on the brink of collapse. The Hydra Village, a project consisting of 2,500 luxury villas, was due to be completed this year, but it is currently two years behind schedule. Understandably, some investors are concerned, including this one who spoke to The Sun:

“The Hydra Village project has been a disaster and I genuinely fear I will never see my money again.

“I would treat anything Al-Fahim says with a great deal of suspicion.”

It doesn’t appear that this messy situation or his links to Manchester City will jeopardise his eligibility for club ownership, but it doesn’t reflect particularly well on Sir David Richards, the Premier League chairman who has given Al-Fahim his endorsement.

Spoiler bonus: Sulaiman Al-Fahim is the UAE’s answer to Alan Sugar, it seems…

The Citizens distance themselves from Messi/Maradona rumours

Earlier this week The Spoiler published a story from the Spanish press where Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim was quoted as saying that he wanted to work with Lionel Messi and thought Diego Maradona should be the president of a football club.

As Al Fahim was heavily involved in Manchester City’s takeover this was widely perceived as a suggestion that he wanted to see both men unite at Eastlands. However, the Citizens have moved quickly to distance themselves from the speculation, confirming in an official statement on their website that Al Fahim “holds no position at the Club”.

There was no confirmation of whether or not Al Fahim has any involvement with the owners on a consultancy basis. If he does then it seems strange that he would make comments so at odds with City’s party line. If not, then how does he intend to “work with Messi soon”?

Dr al-Fahim keen for more Argentinean influence at Eastlands

Not only is Dr Sulaiman al-Fahim responsible for rejuvenating the blue side of Manchester, but he is also a hilarious source of quotes. The Arabian businessman has already told us how he would love Cristiano Ronaldo to be part of a tour-de-force of international talent, and his latest whim is based around his love of all things Argentinean.

In an interview given to a Dubai-based press agency, Dr al-Fahim said he would like Lionel Messi to be the star attraction at Eastlands, with Diego Maradona’s expert guidance as club president:

“I do not know if Diego Maradona could be a good coach. What I think is that he should be president of a club, and have the right to choose and buy players.

“In Naples, he started from scratch and built a great club. He has the power to change a football team.”

It’s good to see Dr al-Fahim taking a keen interest in the club, but there’s probably more chance of Ashley Cole becoming Arsenal president than Maradona giving up his current job for an executive role at a mid-table outfit. Leo Messi, however, may be turned if enough wheelbarrows full of cash are paraded under his nose…

[Sport.es]

Abramovich gets 770 million reasons to sell up

Last week, we heard that Dr Sulaiman al-Fahim, the tycoon who led the Manchester City buyout, was part of an international consortium interested in buying Chelsea.

Today, it has been reported that awesomely-named German investment manager Holger Heims (the handsome devil pictured above next to the Doc) is part of the eight-person consortium, whose members hail from Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

There have not yet been any formal talks with Roman Abramovich, but the German money man has insisted any takeover negotiations would be ‘friendly’.

According to German paper Bild, the price tag of the West London club could be around €770m (£719m) - more than three times the sum paid for Manchester City, and more than five times the £140m Roman Abramovich dished out to take control in 2003.

Abramovich is said to have spent around £600m on Chelsea football club, so if the £719m price is accurate, the Russian could virtually break even if he decides to sell. In the present economic climate, that would be an absolutely incredible feat, and a very tempting reason to “cash out”.

City offer Fernando Torres £200,000 a week

With Manchester City’s weary troops already complaining that they need reinforcements, the club’s Arab owners are set to oblige with another cheeky offer for Liverpool striker Fernando Torres. The Mirror reports that City would happily make the Spaniard the Premier League’s best paid player on a nice little weekly pay packet of £200,000.

As unlikely as that seems - Torres himself has reportedly made it clear to City that he is happy at Anfield - it could prove to be a very good piece of business if City did pull it off. All the talk this week has been about a Premier League salary cap. So convince the best striker in the league to sign a £200,000 a week deal and turn around a few months later and tell him he is on £50,000 a week. “Sorry, Nando, the salary cap has come into effect. Nothing we can do.”

Talk of an incoming salary cap could actually drive wages up in the short-term. That’s irony, folks.

Kerrrazy billionaire to be sidelined in takeover deal

Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim - the perma-grinning Arab executive who stars in the UAE’s version of The Apprentice - is set to take a backseat in the Manchester City negotiations once due diligence is completed next Monday. From then on, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his trillion dollar family wealth will take charge:

Sheikh Mansour bin Zahed [sic] Al Nahyan, the son of the founding president of the United Arab Emirates and a senior member of the Abu Dhabi royal family, is the real power behind City’s new owners and he is planning to take an increasingly high-profile role once Ramadan finishes later this month.

It is said that the Sheikh could take a more ‘measured approach’ to running things at Eastlands, so Al-Fahim’s dream of seeing every attacking player under the sun in a sky blue shirt may never materialise.

Spoiler FYI: Political asylum seeker Dr Thaksin Shinawatra received his doctorate in criminal justice. Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim’s PhD is nowhere near as ironic - his qualification is in Real Estate investment.

YouTube spoofers take four days to react to club takeover

The man speaking appears to be Indian and of absolutely no resemblance to Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim, but we won’t let that get in the way of a good time.