Ken Dyer
14.01.10
Evening Standard
Multi-millionaires Massimo Cellino and Tony Fernandes were today both heading for London in a race to buy West Ham. Cellino, the president of Cagliari and friend and confidante of West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola, is the latest to declare an interest in the beleagured Premier League club. The 53-year-old, who has made his money from the producing and exporting of cereals, is believed to have made an offer in the region of £62million and will cover West Ham's debts - estimated to be in excess of £38m. This matches what owner CB Holdings wants from any prospective buyer. Malaysian businessman Fernandes, who owns Air Asia, was also expected in London today for talks with his representatives and Rothschilds, the bank which are handling the transaction for CB Holdings. Fernandes was rumoured to be looking for a 50 per cent stake in the club similar to other bidders, the David Sullivan/David Gold axis but in a Twitter post today, Fernandes said: "In Luxembourg. Paid Talk. Then to London tonight. Down to 2 bidders for West Ham. New owner needs total control."
Fernandes's comments suggest he now wants total control, rather than a partnership agreement with Icelandic bank Straumur who are the main creditors of former club owner and chairman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson. A fourth bidder, the city-based Intermarket Group, is expected to finalise its bid tomorrow.
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West Ham sold, say Italy
KUMB.com
Filed: Thursday, 14th January 2010
By: Staff Writer
An Italian website has claimed that Massimo Cellino has won the race to buy West Ham. calciomercato.com are reporting this lunchtime that yesterday's negotiations between Cellino and Rothschild went without a hitch and that a statement to confirm the Cagliari CEO as West Ham's new owner will be made imminently. The price, thought to be for complete control of the club, is said to be around €70million (£63million) plus an undertaking to clear any outstanding debts (widely considered to be around £40million).
The report, which is currently unconfirmed by any offical sources, leads with the heading 'Mission Accomplished' and states that "pending official confirmation, details of the transaction will be announced in the coming hours."
Despite huge interest in this story in Italy sources both in the UK and Italy are suggesting that a deal is yet to be concluded, claiming that calciomercato.com have jumped the gun. Fellow Italian news source unionesarda.it report this afternoon that a deal could take up to 48 hours to complete, adding that all four parties - Gold & Sullivan, Intermarket, Tony Fernandes and Massimo Cellino - still remain involved. Cellino - who has employed no less than 28 managers during his 18 years at Cagliari - emerged last night as the latest potential bidder in the race to buy West Ham United. It has since been revealed that he first flew into London at the weekend to join his son, who is said to have been in London for some time investigating the feasibility of a bid. Current Irons boss Gianfranco Zola is well known to Cellino, having worked alongside his at Cagliari between 2003-05. The pair are said to have fallen out towards the end of that period despite Zola being instrumental in helping the Isolani win promotion to Serie A.
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