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Milan Mandaric has clarified his role in a potential takeover of Aston Villa.

BirminghamLive revealed the ex-Portsmouth, Leicester and Sheffield Wednesday supremo was involved with a consortium interested in buying a controlling stake in the club.

And the Serbian-American businessman has now spoken for the first time about the situation.

MirrorSport (15:32) quote the 79-year-old as saying.

“Aston Villa is an historic big English club.

“But on the other hand I just cannot really say I am making any moves at this time.

“There is a group of people who know me quite well and if I can help them to move forward I will do this.

“They have asked for my advice.

“But at this time I couldn’t say I am part of a takeover.

“I own the club here in Slovenia and we are in very serious competition in Europe and in our Championship league.

“I have to fulfil my commitments and my duty and then sort myself out and look at other options and projects.

“It wouldn’t be fair to this club here, and to other clubs in England, other than saying I am willing to help out at this point rather than to be part of a takeover.”

Mandaric has taken over struggling football clubs in the past, earning him the nickname, Mr Fixit.

At 79 years of age, he’s vastly experienced and is still involved in football as the president of Slovenian outfit Olimpija Ljubljana.

Who is he?

Background

Mandaric was born in Gospic - a sparsely populated region of Croatia - before moving to Novi Sad, Serbia, with his parents.

Mandaric, now 79, demonstrated business acumen from an incredibly young age. He took over his father’s machine shop in Serbia at the age of 21 and within five years it was the largest business in the country.

His success brought him as much anger as praise, though, with Marshal Tito, the authoritarian leader of socialist Yugoslavia, denouncing Mandaric as a ‘capitalist traitor’ when the entrepreneur moved his family to Switzerland.

He quickly headed over to the United States in the late 1960s and set up FC Lika. Next off Mandaric’s train of thought was San Jose Earthquakes. Mandaric set up the Quakes in 1973 and they are still a Major League Soccer club to this very day.

The Serb owned two further clubs in America before turning his attentions to Europe and purchasing Belgian side Charleroi and then French club Nice.

Since then the vast majority of his football work has come in England with Portsmouth, Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday, all of whom were in financial strife before Mandaric’s arrival.

Mandaric is now chairman at Slovenian side Olimpija Ljubljana, but that wouldn’t stop him from returning to the UK and heading up another football club.

Read Alex Dicken's full lowdown here:

How much is he worth?

According to the Sunday Times Rich List of 2013, the veteran businessman is worth around £100m.

Mandaric said in 2012 he had amassed his wealth from the computing industry and that Apple tycoon Steve Jobs handed him one of his first contract to manufacture circuit boards.

Mandaric's wealth grew as his company - called Lika after his hometown - expanded rapidly during the 1970s.

"I was quite successful," Mandaric said.

"Somebody asks me the reason for my success - I say, ‘I was in the right place at the right time’.

"Silicon Valley was just getting started and I was a part of that."