Fulham agree sale to the Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan

NFL franchise owner Shahid Khan has completed a deal to buy Fulham, ending Mohamed Al Fayed's 16 years at the helm.

The Jacksonville Jaguars chief, a billionaire car parts manufacturer, was confirmed as the Cottagers' new owner on Friday evening after the Premier League approved the takeover.

Al Fayed, who is understood to have conducted extensive talks with Khan's camp amid much secrecy, is due to speak to the media at 1pm on Saturday.

A statement on Fulham's official website read: "Mohamed Al Fayed has sold Fulham Football Club to Shahid Khan, the CEO of Flex-N-Gate Group and owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League in the United States.

"The transaction has been approved by the Barclays Premier League. Khan assumes 100 per cent ownership of the club, debt-free, as of today."

The development stands to significantly boost Fulham's spending power, with Khan thought to be twice as wealthy as 84-year-old Al Fayed.

The Pakistan-born 62-year-old, who moved to America as a teenager, is ranked 179th in the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans with an estimated worth of £1.65 billion.

He 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.

"(Mohamed Al Fayed) is giving me the privilege and responsibility of serving as the next custodian of Fulham Football Club," Khan said.

"I am extremely honoured to accept and want to thank him, on behalf of everyone who loves Fulham, for 16 years of exceptional service to the club. Mr Al Fayed rescued the club in its hour of need and has led it to a sustained place within the Premier League.

"Fulham is the perfect club at the perfect time for me. My priority is to ensure the club and Craven Cottage each have a viable and sustainable Premier League future that fans of present and future generations can be proud of."

Al Fayed, who converted previous loans into equity earlier this year, said: "My time of serving as the custodian of Fulham Football Club would one day come to an end, and I feel that time has now arrived.

"The time is right because I have found a very good man in Shahid Khan to accept the responsibility and privilege that I have enjoyed at Fulham since 1997. Fulham will be in very good hands."

Al Fayed transformed Fulham from a third-tier side to an established Premier League club during his tenure. Fulham reached the Europa League final three years ago and last season finished 12th in the league under the guidance of Martin Jol.

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Mark Schwarzer joins Chelsea for free after leaving Fulham

The Blues manager wants him to keep the club's No.1 on his toes and enthuses about Andre Schurrle and Marco van Ginkel

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says that new signing Mark Schwarzer fills an important void as cover and competition for Petr Cech, whom he sees as "the best in the world".

The 40-year-old Australian penned a one-year contract at Stamford Bridge after leaving Fulham this summer, restoring the goalkeeping ranks following the departures of Ross Turnbull and Hilario.

"Mark Schwarzer is what we need," Mourinho told the club's official website.

"I never say this one is the first choice and this one is the second and this one is the third but, of course, as a starting point, Petr Cech is Petr Cech.

"He is the best in the world, with deference to all the others, and Mark knows that he comes to be an important member of the squad, to compete with Petr and to give us in that position what we have in any other position where we have competition and options, giving protection to each other.

"With Mark we have a goalkeeper who has played an incredible number of matches in the last 10 years in the Premier League and he is more than ready for this."

The Portuguese is also enthusiastic about the Blues’ other two captures so far this summer, forward Andre Schurrle and midfielder Marco van Ginkel.

"Schurrle is still so young but he already has great history because he plays in his national team, he has played Champions League and he played three complete seasons for Leverkusen," Mourinho added.

"So he is a player who is absolutely ready and he gives us more than one position in attack and adds quality. He will be important for us.

"Marco van Ginkel is one of the best prospects. He is not yet like Schurrle - close to being a finished product - but he is a player with great potential.

"Of course he needs to play and he will because he is a player with great potential and, physically, he is more than ready. He is a natural athlete.

"By the technical and the tactical point of view, of course, he is a kid, he has to learn, but I think he is very open-minded and we analysed him for quite a long time. The Chelsea scouting department did it for quite a long time and I did it in the last five or six months, and we made a collective decision to bring the kid here."

Source : Goal

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Issam El Adoua opts for Levante over English clubs

Issam El Adoua has opted to sign for Levante after previously being linked with a move to the Premier League.

The Morocco international defender was reported to be a target for West Bromwich Albion and Fulham.

He has, however, agreed to leave Victoria Guimares and pen a two-year deal with Levante.

El Adoua admits he had favoured a switch to England initially, but is convinced that his career can blossom in Spain.

He said: "I wanted to choose an English club until Levante came in.

"They showed that they want me more than the English clubs so I have come to a club where African players have done well in the past.

"I can help the club in two different positions, so my versatility is something they have thought about."

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