Over the last few days, the other team from Manchester, England, has been grabbing all the headlines. First, exiled Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced that he had secured 55.9 percent of Manchester City's shares to secure his $163 million takeover of the club. Then on Thursday, the billionaire confirmed he'd met with former England coach Sven Goran Eriksson, offering him a reported $6 million salary and nearly $100 million in transfer funds to help rebuild the club.
Sources told the Telegraph that Eriksson is "very seriously" considering the hefty offer, though the Swede is reticent to return to a country where he was severely ridiculed for failing to lead England to a major international title. Thaksin's advisers tell him that Sven's the best man for the job, and "I normally follow their recommendation," the prime minister told reporters, although Sevilla coach Juande Ramos is also still very much in consideration. In addition to a new coach, Thaksin says City needs to buy at least two strikers and two midfielders.
The exiled Thai prime minister is certainly the most controversial of the new Premiership foreign owners. With each passing day, there seems a new charge brought against him: his frozen bank accounts now total more than $2 billion, according to the Times. Before a military coup removed him from power in September, his so-called "war on drugs" resulted in the death of more than 2,500 suspected dealers, who were executed without trial.
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