Fulham have refused to be drawn on a report that Mohamed Al Fayed is ready to sell the Premier League club to Pakistan-born billionaire Shahid Khan.
It was claimed on Wednesday that Al Fayed is in talks with Khan, who owns NFL team Jacksonville Jaguars, as he looks to cash in on the west London team after 16 years at the helm.
Khan, who was born in Lahore but now has American citizenship, is ranked 179th in the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans with an estimated worth of $2.5 billion after making his fortune as a car parts manufacturer.
The 62-year-old already has ties to London, with the Jaguars scheduled to play one NFL regular season game a season at Wembley for the next four years, and the Mail claims he has now set his sights on adding Fulham to his sporting portfolio.
The report says a deal could be concluded by the end of the week, but Fulham and Egyptian tycoon Al Fayed have yet to comment on the matter.
Al Fayed, 84, has transformed Fulham from a third-tier outfit to an established Premier League side since taking over in 1997.
Off the field, training facilities have improved markedly and Craven Cottage has been revamped, with planning permission in place to redevelop the Riverside Stand and increase the stadium's capacity to 30,000.
The club is also effectively debt-free after Al Fayed converted previous loans into equity earlier this year.
Source: AFP
