Blackburn Rovers are on the precipice of being taken over by an Indian billionaire with a family fortune of £5bn. The club’s financial records are currently being reviewed by Ahsan Ali Syed’s team of accountants and negotiators. And, if everything goes smoothly, Rovers should receive a takeover bid of approximately £300m. If the deal goes through, Syed has promised to hand manager Sam Allardyce £80m and £100m to spend on new players. Money would also be made available for the youth academy and to upgrade the training facilities and Ewood Park.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Syed said that “I’m a big fan of Big Sam. He’s worked miracles and with the right backing he can take the team even further.” However if the takeover happens, which will be tremendous news for Blackburn Rovers and its supporters, success will not come overnight for Rovers. Even with a transfer kitty of £80m to £100m, it would take time for Rovers to bed in new players and get them used to playing their particular brand of football. After all, they’re not nicknamed Blackeye Rovers for nothing.
Syed obviously sees an opportunity with Rovers. “We invest in undervalued or distressed assets,” Syed said. “What’s more interesting, taking over an established team or a team like Blackburn Rovers back to the top?”
Blackburn supporters will be wondering whether Syed can work his magic as well as previous owner Jack Walker did. Within five years of buying Blackburn, Walker took Rovers from the old Second Division to Premier League champions in the 1994-95 season. However, times have changed a lot since Walker’s time. The sums of £80m to £100m sound like a lot of money, but it doesn’t buy you as many world-class players as it did in 1992 when Walker paid a English record transfer fee in 1992 of £3.5million for Alan Shearer. Or when Blackburn broke the record transfer fee in 1994 when they signed Chris Sutton from Norwich City for £5million.
However, it is reasonable to assume that Syed will be able to help finance the club to turn them from a mid-table Premier League side into a team that can qualify for the Champions League. And with Champions League prestige comes Champions League money which would definitely inflate the value of this Lancashire club.
In the meantime, Syed’s team of accountants and negotiators have a few weeks to review the financial books at Rovers. But Syed is adamant about expediting the process in hopes that a deal can be finalized before the August transfer window ends, which would allow Allardyce to bring in a few players at the last minute. However, it’s more likely that if the deal goes through that Allardyce will have a greater opportunity in the January transfer window to get the players he’s looking for to improve his Rovers squad. Replenishments are needed throughout the team who are in desperate need of revitalization.
200+ Channels With Sports & News
- Starting price: $33/mo. for fubo Latino Package
- Watch Premier League, World Cup, Euro 2024 & more
Live & On Demand TV Streaming
- Price: $35/mo. for Sling Blue
- Watch Premier League, World Cup & MLS
Many Sports & ESPN Originals
- Price: $9.99/mo. (or get ESPN+, Hulu & Disney+ for $13.99/mo.)
- Features Bundesliga, LaLiga, Championship, & more
2,000+ soccer games per year
- Price: $4.99/mo
- Features Champions League, Serie A, Europa League & NWSL
175 Premier League Games & PL TV
- Starting price: $4.99/mo. for Peacock Premium
- Watch 175 exclusive EPL games per season
110+ channels, live & on-demand
- Price: $59.95/mo. for Plus Package
- Includes FOX, FS1, ESPN, TUDN & more
12 Comments
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
SOCCER TV SCHEDULES APP
 |
 |
STREAMING OFFERS
 Includes: Premier League + 84 Sports Channels | |
| 7-Day Free Trial | |
 Includes: Bundesliga & La Liga | |
| Sign Up |
|
Includes: Champions League & Serie A | |
| 7-Day Free Trial | |
Includes: Premier League | |
| Sign Up |
|
 Includes: USA, NBC, FOX, FS1 + more | |
| Browse Offers |
|
Olliver
August 19, 2010 at 11:35 am
“After all, they’re not nicknamed Blackeye Rovers for nothing”. I have been watch the rovers for over 40 years and have NEVER heard them nicknamed “Blackeye Rovers” No Na Never.
The Gaffer
August 19, 2010 at 11:44 am
Olliver, take a look at this story from a couple of weeks ago: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/aug/04/the-fiver-blackburn-liverpool-takeover
Cheers,
The Gaffer
dlink09
August 18, 2010 at 9:06 pm
if i read correctly in the news, this guy doesn’t even stay in India. he lives in middle east. may be he is rich like man city owner..
Jacob
August 18, 2010 at 2:08 pm
That pic looks like Allardyce just found out he may have some money to spend and is now having a heart attack!
cheese
August 18, 2010 at 11:13 am
Haha, Walrus face wouldn’t know what to do with the money.
Tom Hingley
August 18, 2010 at 10:27 am
Football needs regulating SOON.
It is turning into a billionaire’s playground in which true sporting competition is no longer the main arbiter. Instead it is whose owner has the most billionaires.
At some point in the not too distant future, one of these mega-rich owners will walk away, leaving one club well and truly up the wall.
MA
August 18, 2010 at 7:35 am
Blackburn bought Sutton within weeks of buying Shearer! Really?
The Jack WARNER error has alreasdy been referred to above.
What a pathetic article!
The Gaffer
August 18, 2010 at 7:38 am
MA, Sutton was bought in 1994. Shearer joined the club in 1992. The original research I did for this article had incorrect information (it stated that both players were bought within a few weeks of each other). Thanks for pointing that out. The article is now updated.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
JP
August 18, 2010 at 7:31 am
Who the hell is Jack Warner?
Mel Ashe
August 18, 2010 at 7:30 am
Please can you make sure before you publish that you have atleast researched the name of the person that you are writing about! Hi name was Jack Walker!!!
“Blackburn supporters will be wondering whether Syed can work his magic as well as previous owner Jack Warner did. Within five years of buying Blackburn, Warner took Rovers from the old Second Division to Premier League champions in the 1994-95 season. However, times have changed a lot since Warner’s time. The sums of £80m to £100m sound like a lot of money, but it doesn’t buy you as many world-class players as it did in 1992 when Warner paid a English record transfer fee at the time of £3.5million for Alan Shearer.”
The Gaffer
August 18, 2010 at 7:35 am
Sorry about that. I meant Jack Walker. But that bloody Jack Warner from CONCACAF can’t get out of my head. I’ve updated the article to reflect Jack Walker, not Warner. My apologies.
Now if Jack Warner was in charge of Rovers, boy would that be an interesting owner!
Cheers,
The Gaffer
Stuart
August 18, 2010 at 7:30 am
who is jack warner?