Fourteen years ago today, Mohamed Al Fayed said he would buy David Beckham if Jean Tigana wanted him. The billionaire had, allegedly already tried to persuade the Manchester United midfielder, who at the time had 18 months left on his contract, to sign for us. Beckham was expected to become the first player to break the £100,000-a-week barrier when he signed a new deal - and Al Fayed insisted money would not be a problem."If Jean Tigana wants Beckham I'll get him for my manager," Al Fayed told reporters. please log in to view this image "David is a good friend of mine - both him and his wife Victoria. They have had a holiday at my home in St Tropez. Sometimes when they come here together shopping, we have lunch and I'm always talking with him about playing for us. I tell him he can come shopping and spend all his wages here at my store! "I'd love to have him play for me if he wants to come. Of course I can afford him, no problem. Beckham is a maestro." Al Fayed added: "I was coming to watch Fulham when George Best was here. I was proud that such a great player came to play for the club I loved. Best was then what Beckham is today. "And if Best played for Fulham - why not Beckham? If we were good enough for Georgie, we are also good enough for Becks.”
MAF & Michael Cole knew all about marketing a club to give it a bigger profile. He brought in Keegan knowing that he could bring in players of a higher caliber than the name of Fulham FC would at that time. Trying to buy the Wembley Towers, his Michael Jackson statue was marketing to get the name of Fulham more widely known in non football and merchandise sales. I would think the Beckham signing story is also real, and Berbatov was also a profile statement to help the sale of the club. MAF was a chancer (he who dares Rodney), Khan seems to be less of a showman and gambler, we have suffered under his chairmanship from poor decisions.
