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Billionaire Targets Bolton Wanderers

It could be absolute nonsense, but let's indulge ourselves just this once of a beautiful future reality at Bolton Wanderers

Money = Happiness
Money = Happiness
Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Fresh from watching the BBC's 'The Beautiful Gamers' documentary, I could probably be forgiven for thinking I was living in a Football Manager-esque virtual reality when I heard the news that a billionaire wants to buy Bolton Wanderers.

In my 18 months of writing for this site our club has been plagued by negative news - and that's putting it lightly - about our financial situation. So for just this once, let us revel in the glorious thought that we could be on the verge of going from being flat broke to mega-rich.

According to our friends at the Bolton News, an Egyptian billionaire banker and oil magnate wants to buy Bolton Wanderers. Apparently, Roger Tamraz, a former Governor of Egypt's Central Bank who is deputy chairman of Middle East Airlines, owns oil company Tamoil and is 'well known for private investment and charitable donations,' wants to buy the club and "make it a community again."

A spokesman for Tamraz added that the oil magnate would also be keen to see the fans "involved as never before as he seeks to rebuild the image of the club." However, the validity of this claim isn't being taken particularly seriously by those close to the club.

But what if this is a serious bid? Is that beyond the boundaries of reality?

Of course, the initial reaction is - this must be massively dodgy. But for now let's ignore that Tamraz was wanted by American authorities for allegedly embezzling up to $200m, was apparently sentenced to 15 years in prison by a military court in Lebanon, and is allegedly wanted for kidnapping and torture. Hmm, worst of all he's probably bloody BFF's with Phil Gartside as well. Of course he is.

Oh no, let's ignore all that and just imagine a glorious future of an oil-rich Bolton Wanderers competing with the best clubs in the world for the best players in the world. A wonderful world in which we sell out the 120,000 capacity, state-of-the-art Tamraz Bowl every week. A future reality of a Wanderers side packed with global superstars donning beautiful kits shamelessly laden with sponsorships from oil companies we've never heard of.

Imagine a team of stars cheered on by a cheerleading squad of glorious Egyptian beauties. And those same international superstars' wives filling the corporate seats make everyone's favourite Wanderers WAG Kristyna Pumprlova look like Kerry Katona. Oh, and in this wild and wonderful future reality, we might actually win some football matches.

It's a beautiful thought, so let's - just this once - ignore all the Negative Nancies and allow ourselves the luxury of dreaming, pretending and fantasising that something good might finally happen to Bolton Wanderers.