NFL owner buys Fulham

The Pakistan-born businessman has bought the Premier League club for up to a reported €200 million to end Mohamed Al Fayed's 16-year reign at Craven Cottage

The owner of NFL team Jacksonville Jaguars, Shahid Khan, has completed the purchase of Fulham.

The Pakistan-born businessman has taken 100 per cent ownership of the west London club, which is now debt free, from Mohamed Al Fayed, while the deal has also been approved by the Premier League.

Khan, a billionaire car parts manufacturer, is the sixth American owner of a Premier League side having completed the purchase for what reports suggest is around €200 million.

"Fulham is the perfect club at the perfect time for me," Khan told the club's official website.

"I want to be clear, I do not view myself so much as the owner of Fulham, but a custodian of the club on behalf of its fans.

"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.

"We will manage the club’s financial and operational affairs with prudence and care, with youth development and community programs as fundamentally important elements of Fulham’s future."

Al Fayed has ended his 16-year reign at Craven Cottage, which begun in the third tier of English football when he bought the club for around £6.25m, but insists the club will be secure under Khan's ownership.

"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," Al Fayed said. 

"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 with Shahid, whose success in business and passion for sport is very evident.  I ask everyone who loves Fulham and our Craven Cottage home to welcome Shahid as he begins his journey as the next guardian of Fulham football club."