Ranson pledges €20m in City bid

FORMER Manchester City defender Ray Ranson has broken his silence over his intention to mount a formal £90m takeover bid for the Premiership club.

The 46-year-old businessman insists he is interested in the club from a long-term perspective, but would make a sum reportedly in the region of £20m available for immediate team-strengthening.

Whilst confirming they have received an indicative offer from Ranson, City officials have expressed their concern over the viability of his projected bid.

Ranson said: “What I want to do is build on the club’s success since those days when it was yo-yoing between divisions. City is now an established Premiership side, but has to be seen to be going forward.

“It is our ambition to be in Europe on a regular basis – a club the size of City should be in Europe. This bid is not a spur-of-the-moment thing but has been a long-term ambition of mine since my playing days. I first contacted City in 2004 long before I was associated with a move for Aston Villa. Now I have the financial backing to be successful.”

Ranson is believed to be competing with former Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, plus an American consortium, in the battle to take over at City.

However Shinawatra is still only mulling over a bid, while the Americans’ offer is likely to involve the purchase of a 29% stake, rather than the total buy-out to which Ranson is committed.

Ranson added: “City has huge potential on and off the pitch. I believe I am in a unique position to drive that forward, having played the game at the top level and then never left it. My business is football. The timing of any takeover has to be right.

“We are keen to conclude a deal as soon as possible.”

But City insist that, since issuing a “prompt response” on March 12 to Ranson’s initial offer, there has been no contact between the two parties.

A statement issued by the club to the Stock Exchange read: “Ray Ranson’s indicative proposals to date have contained a number of material conditions that the board do not believe can be fulfilled and this has been communicated to Ray Ranson’s advisers.”

The statement continued: “The board can confirm it received, and responded promptly to, a highly conditional indicative proposal from Ray Ranson and his advisers on March 12, 2007.