HOWZAT

If the deal is completed, City fans can expect close links between their club and the Gulf in the future, possibly through preseason tournaments and sponsorship deals. However, the purchase of the club is primarily the result of personal interest in Premier League football by the sheikhs involved. “Its an aeroplane one month, a Premiership football club another month – that’s the world these people live in,” one person familiar with the deal said.

Thaksin rollercoaster

Sept 21, 2006 Thaksin Shinawatra, a telecommunications billionaire who had served as Prime Minister of Thailand since 2001, arrives in London as a political refugee after being deposed by a military coup.

April 24, 2007 Thaksin, who tried to buy a 30 per cent stake in Liverpool three years earlier, launches a preliminary approach for Manchester City.

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May 14 City sack Stuart Pearce as manager.

June 11 The takeover appears on the brink of collapse after about £1.3 billion of Thaksin’s assets are frozen by a Thai anticorruption committee.

June 21 The deal is revived. He lodges an £81.6 million offer and plans to install Sven-Göran Eriksson as manager.

July 6 Eriksson holds his first press conference after signing a three-year contract worth at least £7.5 million. He spends £40 million on players in the summer window.

July 23 Thaksin gains total control of the club after acquiring more than 75 per cent of shares.

Aug 14 Thailand’s Supreme Court issues arrest warrants for Thaksin and his wife after they fail to appear to answer charges of abuse of power over a land deal.

Sept 3 More arrest warrants issued for the pair, who stay in England.

Feb 28, 2008 After the appointment of a pro-Thaksin prime minister, he finally returns to Thailand to face trial and pleads not guilty to corruption charges. He is allowed to return to the UK.

June 2 Eriksson is sacked.

June 4 Mark Hughes is appointed.

Aug 11 Thaksin flees to Britain to request political asylum after he fails to appear in court. The Thai Supreme Court issues an arrest warrant. If found guilty, Thaksin would fail the Premier League’s “fit and proper person” test. It emerges that outstanding payments on past deals are restricting transfer activity.

Aug 23 Facing extradition, Thaksin offers to resign from the board.

Sept 1 Thaksin agrees to sell City to the Abu Dhabi United Group.