kismet said:
In the UAE the credit crunch is definitely effecting Dubai as they have invested in their infra – structure building property etc for when their oil runs out in 5 years they hope tourism will take over……………Abu Dhabi is virtually unaffected as they own 12% of the world oil and have supplies for the next 90 years.
The ADUG Sovereign fund is worth 700 billion and Sheikh Mansour is Chairman, so far he has spent 200 million on transfer fees and 400 million on contracts, all of which is a gift and will not effect the balance sheet, he plans further spending thus –
3 top quality signings in January
The redevelopment of Sport City and Clayton Analine down the road (a massive site)
He will fund further in the summer
Why - because he loves football and the underdogs in any situation, and he wants to raise the profile of Abu Dhabi, note the final Grand Prix will be there, they are hoping for major soccer tournaments, they already host top quality golf and tennis events.
What he has spent so far is small change to him and there is more to come.
He has already stated this is a 10 year project and he will succeed, he always does. He is honourable and will not walk away from a project.
In 10 years time he may well move on but he will have made us self financing and we well be unrecognisable from the club we are today.
He will probably leave us with a couple of Billion it trust to see us over.
Khaldoon has told Sheikh Mansour how welcome we have made him and the banner was greatly received in Abu Dhabi.
We are extremely lucky.
Abramovich and Berlusconi were so worried of the might of Sheikh Mansour they ran for help to Platini.
Albeit tinged with some sentiment, this makes good reading in general.
Our owners are undoubtedly very honorable people and are without a doubt building a dynasty here at our beloved club, (
my only regret is that i cant enjoy it first hand due to my present home being 5,000 fecking miles away!...........for now!) and indeed we are very fortunate to be the chosen one, but there was more than sentiment in that decision i can tell you, look at the incredible potential of our great club, believe me our new owners have invested wisely and we are a perfect match for their ambition, the sky is literally the limt here people!
The same cannot be said for the current American owners of The Swamp Dwellers, once they get tired of the debt riddled burden they have around their necks (Along with the constant abuse from the knobs at the swamp!) they will indeed look to off-load the club big time and if it wasnt for the economy we are in, i hesitate to say that they would have been looking very seriously at doing so at present. Anyway, once they start to think about off-loading, the bidding has to start at around 750M and there just isnt very many people around in the world who would be willing to invest that sort of money into a football club/business, as the rate of returns are just not that good, they never have been!
However, owning a football club, as we all know, isnt about making money, its about prestige and somewhat like owning a Ferrari, you never need one, but pretty much everyone looks at you when you have one if you catch my drfit? So someone with deep, really deep pockets, will show an interest in (and i hate saying this!) owning one of the worlds biggest clubs....but at what price and, after one of the worst recessions the world has ever known, just how many people are out there willing to spend that sort of money (my estimate for whats its worth would be just over a BILLION POUNDS) with very little hope of any worthwhile return..........very few! So a future meltdown is very defintely on the cards there, its just a matter of time, meanwhile we (Gods own club) are moving in the opposite direction at an alarming rate!
So, sit back, buckle up and enjoy the ride both young and old (lime me!) BLUES alike, as they are indeed very (very!) exciting times coming and no doubt trophy laden future beckons, sort out that trophy room extension guys........and quickly!!!
CTID and beyond....
