Thaksin faces Man City takeover wait

Manchester City fans could have to wait another three weeks for prospective owner Thaksin Shinawatra's £81.6 million takeover of the club to be completed.

That is according to Keith Harris, who is executive chairman of Seymour Pierce Investment and the intermediary in the ousted Thai Prime Minister's bid to buy the City of Manchester stadium club.

But such a timescale would leave Stuart Pearce's successor as City manager with little time to prepare ahead of the big Premier League kick-off on August 11.

Thaksin has had more than £1 billion in assets frozen by the current Thai government as part of an investigation into corruption allegations, but Harris insists this poses no threat to the takeover.

He said: "A number of his bank accounts have been frozen. Some of them are personal and some corporate. But the money used to finance the takeover and used to invest in the club are in bank accounts in England and beyond their (the Thai government's) reach.

"An offer document for the takeover bid will come out in the next couple of days. The takeover could be completed three days after that, or as long as 21 days after that."

Harris has also revealed there is a "fair chance" of Eriksson, who has been out of work since his England reign came to an end last summer, becoming Manchester City's next manager.

He added: "There is a fair chance that Eriksson will take the job and the important thing is that Eriksson is highly respected by England's players.

"They all hold him in high regard. Manchester City's academy has been successful in bringing through young England players, so it would knit well in that respect.

"Manchester City want to attract a high-quality manager who can in turn attract high quality players.

"Sven-Goran Eriksson is on the list of candidates but we don't know if he will accept, so it behoves anyone to think of alternatives.

"The good news is the alternatives have not been in the gush of publicity and there are talks going on with those others as well.

"But the important thing is that a good-quality manager is chosen and that a manager who wants the job takes it in the next couple of days."

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