Massimo Cellino
Massimo Cellino, the president of Italian club Cagliari is closing in on a bid to buy Crystal Palace , according to reports in the Italian media.
Cellino had been interested in purchasing West Ham back in January, launching a reported £100m bid before David Sullivan and David Gold took over at Upton Park. Despite Cellino's failure on that occasion, he has not given up hope of entering English football, according to Italian daily Corriere dello Sport.
Crystal Palace are in administration and as a consequence of their financial woes have had ten points deducted, plunging them into a relegation battle at the bottom of the Championship. Last week, they lost their influential manager Neil Warnock to London rivals Queens Park Rangers with former Portsmouth boss Paul Hart taking over the Selhurst Park hotseat.
Corriere dello Sport reports that Cellino is "very close to an agreement" with Palace administrator Brendan Guilfoyle.
Should his bid for Crystal Palace fail, Corriere dello Sport reports that Cellino will attempt to buy Queens Park Rangers . However, this would seem an unlikely development given the recent revamped ownership of the West London club under the Mittal family.
Cellino has been in charge of Serie A club Cagliari since 1992. The club currently lies in eighth position in Italy's top division.
