Carson Yeung has increased his holding in Birmingham City by 51.8% to take his total ownership of the club to 81.7%. He is expected to complete the takeover over the course of the next few months. Yeung has big plans for Birmingham City and is extremely keen for the club to have a presence in China:

“Over the past 10 years China has had its sports boosted, but there has been no development for football, so I would like to make my humble contribution. In the future, when the team is stabilised, we will recruit Chinese players who have potential.”

Yeung clearly feels Birmingham City will be able to take advantage of the commercial opportunities in the relatively untapped Chinese market. As yet no club has been able to corner the market with Chinese fans notoriously fickle – preferring to follow their superstar heros rather than remain loyal to any one club. Yeung belieevs he will gain from advertising revenues if he can persuade his manager to introduce some Chinese players into the squad and help promote football in China.

Carson Yeung’s takeover of Birmingham City is looking more and more imminent. Having already deposited £3 million on August 19th it now appears his bankroll has allowed manager Alex McLeish to splash out on Portuguese midfielder Michel. The total cost of the club is likely to be £81.5million with additional expenditure unaccounted for. Yeung’s last attempt at a takeover in December 2007 ended acrimoniously with current shareholders David Gold and David Sullivan reacting badly to the failed bid. However, the board appear to be more confident this time around with rumours already circulating that Gold and Sullivan are tempted to invest in West Ham United.