THE BASICS

Name: Peter Lim Eng Hock

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Age: 62 (his exact birth date is not known, but believed to be in 1953)

Occupation: Businessman and investor

Net worth: $1.91 billion (£1.27bn)

Made his money: As a stockbroker and, later, investor

Nickname: 'Remisier King' ('remisier' means commission, a relic of his stockbroking days)

Sporting interests: Owns Valencia (70%) and Salford City (50%). Previous attempted bids for Liverpool, Rangers and Middlesbrough (among others). Owns and controls Cristiano Ronaldo’s image rights.

Salford City co-owners Paul Scholes and Gary Neville after the game Image credit: Reuters

THE BACKGROUND

Like many wealthy businessmen, Lim identified football as a huge investment opportunity (with associated glamour benefits) and has long wanted to be involved in the sport. Previous attempts to buy the likes of Liverpool (in 2010) and AC Milan (2014) did not come through, before he successfully completed a deal for 70.4% of Valencia almost 18 months ago.

Since then Lim has relied heavily on one increasingly familiar face to get his Valencia project up and running – ‘super-agent’ Jorge Mendes. Plenty of Mendes 'clients' (of one form or another) – Nicolas Otamendi, Aymen Abdennour, Rodrigo, Enzo Perez, the list goes on – have come in or out of the club since Lim took over, leading to some concern among fans about the Portuguese’s influence on the club.

It was Mendes who originally proposed the Valencia investment to Lim, when the club were in the direst of straits and needed rescuing, and the club’s transfer policy since the takeover has led some to suggest Mendes works with Lim to prioritise the profitable purchase and sale of their clients, rather than the team’s results.

"Jorge Mendes is just a friend and he’s certainly not the sporting director," club president Layhoon Chan was forced to insist recently. "We work as a team; we get input from (manager) Nuno (Santo) and (owner) Peter Lim.

"When we come to bring in a new player at the club, the decision is based on his quality as a footballer and future potential, no other reason."

However, Chan’s comments are hardly helped by the fact that Valencia’s previous manager, Nuno Espirito Santo, was another Mendes client. It seems he had lost the dressing room before his exit at the weekend, however – and so even Mendes could not save him.

Plus there is this: This year Lim raised eyebrows when he bought the image rights to Mendes' most famous client of all - Cristiano Ronaldo.

Peter Lim Valencia (Reuters) Image credit: Reuters

WHERE DO THE NEVILLES COME IN?

The Nevilles have their own business relationship with Lim – the businessman buying 50% of Salford City off them and the other Class of ’92 investors in the non-league club during last season.

On the face of it the deal made little sense for Lim – Salford are minnows in the scheme of things and, while they could turn a tidy profit for the owners if they ever make it up the footballing pyramid, it will take a high level of additional investment to get to that point.

Such investment would still be small change for Lim but, with myriad other options out there if he wanted to buy a David and turn it into a Goliath, you suspect the real reason he got involved was to forge a relationship with the likes of Neville, Neville, Butt, Scholes and Giggs.

“The only reason for Peter’s investment in Salford City is aligned with his personal philanthropic interest in youth development,” a spokesman told The Guardian at the time, “and of course his support for the members of the class of 92.”

Lim has also helped Neville and Giggs with their Hotel Football project in Manchester and taken on (with Chinese partners) another £200m regeneration project in Manchester that the Class of '92 are nominally involved with, forging closer and closer links between the individuals involved. It was thus not a great surprise when Phil Neville joined Valencia as Nuno’s assistant manager in the summer, perhaps foreshadowing Wednesday’s announcement (the younger Neville does not have all his coaching badges yet, precluding him from taking on the managerial role).

There is evidence that the group go further back even than that – Neville praised Lim for some of his charity work in a 2011 video – so this may be part of a longer term plan between the men. How close are they in reality? Well, Lim even attended the recent funeral of Neville Neville, the brothers' father.

“We are delighted to have secured Gary so quickly," Chan said in a statement. "He combines top level coaching experience through his role as a senior coach with the England national team and a world-class playing career with England and Manchester United

“Throughout his career Gary has always shown great leadership both on and off the pitch. He is hugely respected in English football and it was his personal qualities which persuaded us that he was the right choice to lead Valencia until the end of the season."

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville Image credit: AFP

WHAT NEXT FOR THE NEVILLES AND LIM?

Well, surely the hope is that the new coaching team can turn around results (and performances) as soon as possible, and ensure the club qualify for next season's Champions League. The club are currently ninth in La Liga, while they still have the possibility of reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League with a win on the final matchday against Lyon - which will be Neville's first official match in charge.

Neville will presumably have to quickly improve his knowledge of the Spanish league - and his own squad, if we assume that he has been focused almost exclusively on the Premier League since retiring as a player and starting out as a pundit. His brother will obviously help him get up to speed on the talent within the squad he now takes charge of, but that will perhaps be the biggest obstacle he faces in adjusting to the challenge he has now taken on.

“I am absolutely thrilled to be given this opportunity with Valencia," Neville said in a statement. "Valencia are a huge football club of immense standing and I know from my time as a player the passion and dedication of the Valencia fans.

“I am really looking forward to working with the club’s talented group of players and am excited about the challenge ahead.”

It is interesting to note that the deal only runs until the end of the season, while Neville will (according to all initial reports) remain involved with the England coaching setup. Perhaps this is a mutually beneficial move for both men - Lim gets a manager that might not interfere with whatever business interests he and Mendes are furthering while also (hopefully) stabilising the team for the rest of the campaign, while Neville gets a full-time management job on his CV ahead of - perhaps, perhaps - succeeding Roy Hodgson as England manager following next summer's European Championships.

Of course, it could instead be the start of a long and fruitful tenure at the Mestalla for the former right-back. It will be interesting to watch it all unfold...

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