Ecclestone and Briatore plan QPR swoop

SLOOPY

Overtaking? No, taking over as Ecclestone and Briatore plan QPR swoop
EXCLUSIVE: By MATT LAWTON - More by this author »

Last updated at 23:29pm on 9th August 2007

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Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone is set to buy Queens Park Rangers, Sportsmail can reveal.

Ecclestone, worth £2.25billion and the 20th richest man in Britain, has linked up with Renault F1 chief Flavio Briatore to acquire the west London club from Gianni Paladini.

The three men are understood to have shaken hands on the deal within the last fortnight. Paladini has been looking to sell for around £30million but has told friends he would accept substantially less if the deal was right.

Under the deal, Paladini would stay on as chairman, running the Championship club on a day-to-day basis, but Ecclestone and Briatore - a football-mad Italian - have the financial clout to transform a side with one of the wealthiest catchment areas in the country. Ecclestone, who has transformed the fortunes of Formula One with his tough management style, has no track record in football but was recently linked to a possible takeover of Arsenal.

Last night, Paladini denied that a deal had been completed, saying: "I wish it was true."

The move is unusual in that it involves a partnership between a British and a foreign investor and comes on a day when two of English football's most influential figures warned of the dangers of too much foreign money coming into the domestic game.

With Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Fulham, Portsmouth, Sunderland and West Ham all now having non-English owners, Bolton chairman Phil Gartside voiced fears that too much foreign investment will damage the Premier League.

He said: "The trouble is that the more foreign owners you get, the greater the danger of the balance of power changing.

"Football, as it has been regulated for years, could be in danger. If the foreignowned clubs gain a majority and decide to get together, they could start to dictate how the league is run.

"Here at Bolton we are still classed as a club that is owned by its roots, by people who still have a vested interest in making Bolton successful and not purely for financial gains. That's the way we'd like it to stay but, in reality, it's a difficult balance to achieve.

"Manchester City fans, for instance, probably aren't going to care where their transfer funds come from if they see their club signing players for big fees. 'We are not blind to exploring investment in the club but we are also mindful of the future ownership and ensuring it remains in the hands of people who are interested in the well-being of Bolton.

"We would welcome investment, but it does matter where it comes from. If the right offer was put on the table, we'd have to look at it because we are mindful that we are custodians and not just owners. To date, however, we have had no approaches."

Meanwhile, Sir Jack Hayward yesterday sold Wolves to Steve Morgan for £10 - writing off the &£60m debt he accrued during his 17-year spell in charge - and also took a swipe at the new foreign owners in the Premier League, and Manchester City's Thaksin Shinawatra and West Ham's Eggert Magnusson in particular.

He said: "I think the way clubs are going into foreign hands is very bad indeed. That's why I'm so delighted that Steve is English. I couldn't have sold to a foreigner. I didn't want a Siamese ex-prime minister here, thank you very much. This is an English club.

"We did have one or two foreigners interested. We had the West Ham crowd come in for half a day but luckily the sandwiches we served at lunchtime were even worse than usual and it put them off."

Royale with Cheese

As long as they piss off and stay the hell away from Arsenal, then it's all good.

SLOOPY

From The TimesAugust 10, 2007

Flamboyant Briatore on track to take over at QPRGary Jacob and Kevin Eason


Flavio Briatore is in advanced talks about taking control of Queens Park Rangers. The Renault team principal is believed to be considering a deal worth about £25 million for the club, including taking on the debt of about £21 million. The flamboyant businessman is not known for a love of football, although his shrewd brain has given him a unique place in Formula One. He helped to mastermind the transfer of a little-known Michael Schumacher and spotted Fernando Alonso, the world champion.

Briatore is the latest individual – including a consortium involving Ronny Rosenthal, the former Liverpool forward – that has been entertained by the Coca-Cola Championship club this summer in an attempt to ensure that do not fall into administration.

Briatore has promised John Gregory, the QPR manager, about £10 million to spend on players in Janaury and he is willing to repay the £10 million that is owed to the ABC Corporation, a loan that helped the club to exit administration five years ago, but has become a noose because of the hefty repayments. More than £7 million is still owed to club directors and the HM Revenue and Customs.

Born in Italy, Briatore ran Benetton’s operations in the United States, turning five stores into 800 branches. When Benetton sent him to Formula One to transform a moribund team he recruited the best – including Ross Brawn, who later became the technical director of Ferrari – and snatched a young driver from Jordan. Schumacher won two world titles at Benetton and a further five with Ferrari.

When Renault bought the Benetton team, Briatore who had briefly left Formula One returned, and spotted another brilliant talent, Alonso, who has won two world titles. Away from the track, Briatore, 57, lives a life reflected in the choice of title for his range of fashion and nightclub businesses, called simply Billionaire. He has yachts, a house in Sardinia and an apartment in London.