From one cesspool to another: over at Wastelands there's a new gravy train set to depart: "Agent Jerome Anderson flanked Sven at the press conference, having been instructed to find at least six new players." Anderson certainly bounced back quickly from the fiasco of the Thierry Henry transfer, when the player spectacularly binned him ahead of his move to the Nou Camp, of which there's surely more to come. City insiders are still trying to piece together how Anderson and Zahavi have managed to set up a system whereby virtually all City's business when spending the Thai dirty millions will be funnelled through one monopolistic middleman set-up. Shades of the old regime at Maine Road when, especially under Kevin Keegan, almost every deal seemed to have Wille McKay's signature on it. McKay, with incredible arrogance (or stupidity? Thin line…) once took out an advert in City's match programme listing all the deals he'd done at City and boasting about his role in them. (Not quite so keen on the trumpet-tooting post-Stevens, is he?!) Now then, what might a suspicious mind have to say about clubs who start putting all their business though the same pair of mitts? (A scenario we ourselves painfully recall vis-à-vis Zahavi and Jason Ferguson, you will recall.) Ah well, sure 'tis nowt to be concerned over. After all, if anything was amiss, the journalists would be all over it, wouldn't they? … Oh.
And right on queue here's David Conn's blog in the Guardian.
In Thaksin Shinawatra's revolution, which has launched Manchester City to the euphoric, unforeseen position at the top of the Premier League, the agent Jerome Anderson has been a central figure. During the breathless three weeks after Thaksin's £21.6m takeover and the appointment of Sven-Goran Eriksson as manager, Anderson was key to sealing the deals for City to sign eight players, all foreign, between the July 13, £8.8m signing of Roland Bianchi from Reggina, and August 3, when Valeri Bojinov joined City from Fiorentina.
Anderson's involvement with Thaksin began before the City takeover; he was brought in to advise when the former Thai Prime Minister, in exile in London, was first considering buying a football club. In a series of connections which trace the global links of football, business and politics, Anderson's introduction came from Thaksin's most important football contact in London, Philippe Huber, a Swiss media entrepreneur.
Huber's company, Kentaro, which has an office in Chelsea Harbour, holds the TV rights for matches played by Thailand's international team, and Huber is a close friend of the Thai FA's president, Worawi Makudi, an influential figure in world football and Fifa executive committee member. Through Makudi, Huber came to know Thaksin while he was prime minister, and Huber advised in 2004 when Thaksin tried to buy Liverpool on behalf of the Thai government, a proposal which fell through.
Anderson then introduced Thaksin to Keith Harris, the merchant banker whose firm, Seymour Pierce, went on to act for Thaksin on the takeover. Once the deal was done, the speed with which City bought players and replenished the club has astonished football.
Anderson's role in the recruitment of Eriksson became public when Eriksson's own agent, Athole Still, appeared unaware that discussions were taking place; then on the day Eriksson was unveiled as City's manager, Anderson publicly discussed the scale of the job required at City. After that, he marshalled his energies and contacts book to help deliver the players.
Nobody at City wanted to discuss the precise role Anderson has played in these signings, and Anderson himself was unavailable. One well-placed source said only: "He will be paid for the unprecedented job he has done."
The other advantage is that City can pay over time. English clubs usually insist that 50% of a transfer be paid immediately, 50% a year later, whereas deals with European clubs can be strung out in three or four instalments over two years or the length of the contract. City have signed a dressing room of talent without Thaksin having to spend enormously up front.