Contrasting reports on Shah Rukn Khan showing interest in I-League champs Dempo's stake

After making it big in the Indian Premier League with his team Kolkata Knight Riders winning the title of IPL Season V, Bollywood Badshah is aiming to making a foray into football. According to reports in the Times Of India, Dempo Sports Club are close to signing a deal with Shah Rukh Khan but more than the Bollywood star’s money, the I-League champions are keen on winning his time.

Dempo chairman Shrinivas Dempo has met Shah Rukh three times in the last couple of months, and although some loose ends remain to be tied, Dempo are confident the Kolkata Knight Riders owner will be picking up shares in one of India’s most successful football clubs.

“I can confirm that talks have been progressing well and both sides are positive about the deal. I cannot comment on the valuation due to a confidentiality clause but I believe we should be able to close the deal in a month’s time,” the Dempo chairman told TOI on Friday.

Meanwhile according to a report in The DNA, Shah Rukh Khan’s reported interest in acquiring a stake in a football team could be a straw in the wind. Inquiries have revealed that the Bollywood star did elicit an interest in the ‘property’ at one stage but that’s about it. His team of advisors has not made any progress with regard to the project.

“We do not know how such a thing has surfaced now. It is an old story and we thought it is a closed story,” a key aide of the Bollywood star told DNA.

According to him, Shah Rukh asked his officials to have a look at the project. After going through the offer, they concluded that the deal was not ‘exciting.’ Promptly, they advised him that it would not be a profit-making venture. The Dempo management held parleys with King Khan, but that was not in the recent past. The last time Shah Rukh spoke to the chairman of the Goan club Srinivas Dempo and other members of the team was a couple of months back. Lately, there have been no development to suggest that Shah Rukh is close to sealing the deal. “We’ve not yet closed the deal,” admitted Dempo.

Dempo, with five ILeague titles in the last eight years, are India’s most successful team in recent times but have repeatedly failed to attract sponsors.