Soccernet (blame them if it’s not true, not us) is running the following story:
World’s fifth richest man eyes Birmingham
Indian-born billionaire Lakshmi Mittal – the fifth richest man in the world – has emerged as a contender to buy Premiership club Birmingham.
While Birmingham City fans crap themselves in disbelief and do all sorts of unmentionable acts in celebration, they might do well to read the fine print i.e. the whole article, which has no quote nor any concrete evidence / proof that Lakshmi Mittal – worth £19.25 billion and is straight, btw – is actually doing something with Birmingham City.
What we do have is the mention of a mystery Far East businessman who will have to reveal his identity if his accountants are satisfied with Birmingham, and this statement:
Mittal, who is based in the UK, has not so far followed up his initial interest in Blues who have become a more attractive commodity following their return to the Premiership.
and this one:
But 56-year-old Mittal, who last year bought Arcelor, the world’s second biggest steel-maker for £17.8 billion, is maintaining a watching brief.
What’s a whole lot more interesting is the next line though:
Mittal has twice the personal fortune of Chelsea owner Roman Abramowich and Blues could be transformed into a major power if he took control.
I wonder if Mittal got the wrong club – and that he probably should have gone after the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United. Chelsea fans may not be bothered, but those Liverpool fans who were celebrating the PR of Gillett and Hicks must be cursing their luck now 🙂
More on Lakshmi Mittal – including the fact that he’s worth US $32 billion, has been named one of the 100 most influential people by Times in May 2007, gives money to the Labour Party and has paid the highest price ever for a house ( £57.1 million ) – this is one seriously rich dude, and because of that I doubt if he’s after Birmingham City at all…
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