THE Indian investor plotting the takeover of Blackburn Rovers says he will give Sam Allardyce up to £100million in transfer funds as part of a £300million 15-year investment in Ewood Park.
As The Daily Telegraph revealed two weeks ago, Ahsan Ali Syed, an Indian investment tycoon, is hoping to take control of Blackburn in the next month.
A team of negotiators from his company Western Gulf Advisory arrived at the club yesterday hoping to secure agreement on a four-week exclusive negotiation period.
Syed, 36, is the heir to a family fortune estimated at £5billion controlled by WGA, which is based in Bahrain and the Swiss canton of Zug. Syed says he has targeted Blackburn because of his “passion” for the club and the English game, and is not seeking a quick return on his investment.
“For me the investment in Blackburn is more of a passion than a way to make a quick return from the balance sheets,” he said.
“I am not investing to make a return in two years and walk away, I am coming in as a fan to invest for the long term.”
Syed, who has never been to Blackburn and declined to discuss his favourite players, said that if he was successful he would begin his reign by backing Allardyce with funds to consolidate the club’s Premier League status.
“As part of our first five-year investment we will make £80million-£100million available to the manager. He has done a fantastic job for the club with constrained resources, but I am sure that if he is given a free hand with the resources we can provide then Big Sam has the potential to make wonders.”
While Syed is confident that he will do a deal, claiming to have agreed proposed terms for a contract prior to yesterday’s meetings, there was no immediate confirmation from the club that he had exclusive access to the books ahead of a deal.
Meetings between Syed’s team, including WGA’s finance director, and club chairman John Williams continued all day, with another potential Indian investor Saurin Shah insisting that he too hoped to begin due diligence this week.
Syed said he had a longterm plan for the club focused on extending Blackburn’s global reach. His plan appears to be based on exploiting the Premier League’s growing popularity in India, where football is the fastest growing game.
“We have a 15-year investment fund for the club, split into three five-year segments,” he added. “In the first we will strengthen and retain our Premier League status, invest in the academy for the production of young players, invest in the stadium, and focus on marketing in the Middle East, the Far East and the Indian subcontinent to increase Blackburn Rovers as a brand.”
Syed’s focus on Blackburn has raised eyebrows in the game, with questions as to the true potential of a club that even in their mid-1990s titlewinning pomp struggled to fill their stadium.
But the Indian remains convinced that he can “write a great turnaround story”, and revealed that he had rejected the chance to launch a bid for Liverpool.
“I was presented with a number of clubs as potential investments by my advisers, but Blackburn fitted my investment model best.”
Syed said he believed he would pass the Premier League’s new owners and directors test.
“All my investments and wealth are out in the open, but I will submit myself to whatever the Premier League require of me,” he said.
Sheffield United are expected to announce Gary Speed as the club’s new permanent manager today, replacing Kevin Blackwell who was sacked over the weekend.
The 40 year-old, who has been working as first-team coach at Bramall Lane, is understood to have met club chairman Kevin McCabe and chief executive Trevor Birch in Spain, where he was offered the role.
