TURKISH Cypriot brothers Halil and Husnu Falyali said yesterday they were close to buying Fulham football club and that if they took control would look to sign players of the calibre of England captain David Beckham.
Speaking from his casino at the Salamis Bay Hotel in Famagusta 34 year-old Halil Falyali told the Cyprus Mail, “It’s true were are planning to buy the club. Yesterday my brother met the chairman and financial director to discuss a deal”.
Falyali added that the deal will cost them around £100 million and that current owner Muhammed Al Fayed was “very keen to sell”.
However, a source close to the club was adamant that a deal was not on the cards.
“The club is not for sale. Chairman Mohammed Al Fayed does not want to bail out of football or the outfit he has spent more than £100 million on.”
A Cyprus-based spokesman for the Falyali brothers told the Cyprus Mail the brothers’ business portfolio included a construction company that carried out works in Cyprus, Italy and the Far East, petroleum interests and the world’s second largest online gambling firm.
He added that Husnu and Halil spend their lives travelling between Cyprus, Britain and France, but have a particular affection for London and British football.
“They have been Fulham fans since childhood, and are saddened by the clubs current run of bad form,” the spokesman said, adding that the two hoped to invest in new a number of high-profile new players”.
“The club is not doing well at the moment, but we will turn it around,” Falyali said adding that he would seek to buy players “like David Beckham”.
The spokesman for the brother added that Al Fayed’s asking price had been £110 million, but that the Falyalis had offered £85 million.
“And negotiations have been going on ever since,” he added.
Although Falyali claimed the deal was likely to go through, he said also that leakage of new of a possible deal had been upsetting for the brothers and Al Fayed.
“Last night people started gossiping so we’ve put things on hold for a bit”.
“Our discussions were held in secret, but yesterday someone we believe working for Al Fayed leaked information about them to the press,” said the spokesman.
“We have other business interests we do not want adversely affected by this news.”
The brothers’ London –based lawyer Timur Rustem confirmed yesterday that discussions on a possible buyout had taken place but insisted “no formal deal” had yet been stuck.
“”Mr Husnu has spent a couple of days in London looking at expanding the Falyali portfolio. Yesterday, the [Fulham] chairman was kind enough to show us around…and we are now considering where to go from here”.
