Thaksin lures Eriksson with £50m kitty

Frozen in Thailand, thawing in Manchester, Thaksin Shinawatra began the process of convincing the sceptics last night when he declared himself a "fit and proper" prospective owner of Manchester City and confirmed Sven Goran Eriksson is the leading candidate to manage his £81.6m Premiership asset.

The former Thai prime minister had his long-awaited bid accepted by the City board yesterday morning, just hours after he was charged by Thailand's military rulers with illegally purchasing a piece of Bangkok land at a bargain price, and immediately intensified attempts to make the former England manager his first signing within the next week. That deal may yet be struck within the next 48 hours, with sources close to Eriksson admitting he is close to ending his 12-month sabbatical from the game at the City of Manchester Stadium.

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Thaksin and his advisers have made a contractual offer to Eriksson and are hopeful he will accept the invitation to revive a career and a reputation damaged by his exploits at international level but which delivered silverware at club level with Gothenburg, Benfica, Roma and Lazio. Eriksson has been offered a three-year contract worth £2m a year, with significant bonuses attached, an offer that would make Eriksson one of the highest-paid managers in the Premiership.

The Thais intend to move swiftly on making a high-profile appointment with pre-season training only 14 days away. They also hope the promise of a £50m transfer budget may tempt Eriksson to give an answer before the weekend is out. "I have my advisers working on it," said Thaksin, who met the Swede last week. "I leave it to the professionals. He [Eriksson] is one of the names my advisers have told me about. He has a very good reputation, he is a very good coach. I have met him once. I said hello and touched base, but it was my advisers who did most of the talking with him. I cannot say anything else, though, until next week."

However, when asked about The Independent report that Michael Owen would figure on Eriksson's transfer wish-list, the 57-year-old conceded that talks had advanced to discussing potential signings. "Each coach has their own connections, we have to wait until we get the coach first," said Thaksin, adding, "if we come across good players, then we will invest in those players. If it is necessary, then £50m will be £50m, £30m will be £30m, it can be done. We need two strikers, two midfielders and maybe a new goalkeeper"

The board has given an undertaking to accept Thaksin's bid, which constitutes £21.6m for the existing issued share capital plus £60m of debt, and has recommended acceptance of a 40p per share offer. With the agreement of leading shareholders such as the chairman John Wardle, business associate David Makin plus former player and chairman Francis Lee, Thaksin effectively owns 55.9 per cent and is committed to a complete takeover that will reregister Manchester City as a private limited company. A further 9.9 per cent is owned by Sky, which is expected to follow the board's lead, and Thaksin's advisers are confident he will pass the 75 per cent threshold required to take the company off the Stock Exchange.

One potential spanner in the works is the Premier League's "fit and proper" person's test, a list of 24 crimes - including fraud - that would prevent convicted offenders becoming club directors or owning more than 30 per cent of a club. In the past two weeks Thaksin has had £1.1bn frozen by Thailand's rulers, who have charged him with concealing assets and yesterday with an illegal land purchase, although he currently passes the criterion as he has not been convicted of any crime.

"I will definitely pass it. I have already been through so many questions during the takeover process but, despite that, it is a good system you have in England and I like it," he admitted. "My democratically elected government was overthrown by a military junta. The country is now under a dictatorship that is politically motivated against me. I am quite confident that when democracy returns to Thailand in December I will have more justice and can fight my case. The freeze will be temporary. They have no legal right to freeze my money. My lawyers are working on it. I am innocent and ready to go back and fight my case."

Thaksin's offer statement pledged not to implement wholesale changes in the boardroom, where Wardle will be appointed non-executive deputy chairman, although Dennis Tueart, Mark Boler and Makin have agreed to resign, making way for chairman Thaksin, his son Panthongtae, daughter Pintongta and Sasin Monvoisin, wife of the former Thai ambassador Vikrom Koompirochana and a current director of the UK Sports Investments vehicle created to facilitate the deal.

Wardle and Makin will receive £17.5m of the £25m in personal loans they gave to City in recent seasons which, coupled with a 60p loss on each of the shares they acquired for £1 in 2002, means the JD Sports chain founders have taken a loss in the region of £15m. The board also sought written assurances that Stuart Pearce's successor as manager would be given a substantial war chest before accepting Thaksin's offer and he has pledged to expand City's appeal across the globe.