A spokesman for the owner of the NFL team Jacksonville Jaguars, Shad Khan, has told the Associated Press that he has bought Premier League side Fulham from Mohamed Al Fayed.
Khan paid £600m for the Jacksonville franchise, so the £150m (or £200m in some accounts) reported asking price for Fulham is small beer by comparison. The Pakistani businessman made his money selling car parts. He is reportedly worth £1.7 to £2 billion which should provide a good war chest for Fulham.
A spokesman for the owner of the NFL team Jacksonville Jaguars, Shad Khan, has told the Associated Press that he has bought Premier League side Fulham from Mohamed Al Fayed.
Khan paid £600m for the Jacksonville franchise, so the £150m (or £200m in some accounts) reported asking price for Fulham is small beer by comparison. The Pakistani businessman made his money selling car parts. He is reportedly worth £1.7 to £2 billion which should provide a good war chest for Fulham.
Al Fayed has courted would-be suitors for the Whites twice over the last 10 years but two attempts foundered with no-one willing to shoulder the £150-million debt incurred during the last 16 years.
Khan said, ‘Fulham is the perfect club at the perfect time for me. I want to be clear, I do not view myself so much as the owner of Fulham, but a custodian of the club on behalf of its fans. My priority is to ensure the club and Craven Cottage each have a viable and sustainable Premier League future that fans of present and future generations can be proud of. We will manage the club’s financial and operational affairs with prudence and care, with youth development and community programs as fundamentally important elements of Fulham’s future.’
This takeover means that six of the 20 Premier League clubs are American owned.