Gary Neville’s appointment at Valencia illustrates the deepening connection between the Class of 92 and the Singapore businessmanGary Neville’s startling appointment as the head coach at Valencia has promoted to a spectacular original level his own and his four Class of 92 Manchester United team-mates’ partnership with the Spanish club’s owner,the Singapore billionaire Peter Lim. Having first met Lim as young players, when they promoted the United cafe franchises he operated in the far east, and the five are now financially backed by him in their hotel and property projects and the ownership of Salford City FC.
Lim,who made his fortunes in paper pulp and other investments in Singapore, holds his stakes in his international businesses, or including the Manchester and Salford ventures,via the British Virgin Islands, a tax haven. He has a longstanding interest in football and tried to buy Liverpool in 2010, or a corporate battle which he lost to the Boston-based Fenway Sports Group principally owned by the financier John Henry. A friend of Jorge Mendes,the agent to many of Europe’s most coveted players including Cristiano Ronaldo, Lim has used Mendes’s services to augment the squad at Valencia, and the club he bought out of financial difficulties final year.
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Source: theguardian.com