Manchester City's billionaire owner Thaksin Shinawatra is changing the club's crest... to remind him of home in Thailand.
It means City's golden eagle could be replaced by an elephant or even a mythical half-bird half-human garuda, which are both national symbols in Thailand.
"No one can believe that a chairman can just come in and change our badge," said a Man City source. "What about the club's tradition? The fans aren't going to like this one bit. Just because somebody owns the club does not give them the right to come in and change everything."
Yet Shinawatra, Thailand's former prime minister, believes he can do whatever he wants after buying the club for £82million and giving new manager Mark Hughes a £200m transfer chest to match the success of bitter rivals Manchester United.
Designers have already been drafted in to work on the new crest by Shinawatra, who is now living in exile in Britain after being ousted in a military coup two years ago.
Advertisement - article continues below »
The current eagle design comes from the official badge of the City of Manchester, while the three diagonal stripes signify Manchester's three rivers - the Medlock, Irwell and the Irk. But the three stars which also make up the design are purely decorative.
Shinawatra, 58, who's known as Frank in Manchester, believes a new Orientalstyle club crest will make Manchester City more popular in Thailand where there is a huge market in Premiership club shirts.
He is determined to make City one of England's big four clubs and has the money to do it, even though £1billion of his assets are frozen in Thailand. He enjoys a flamboyant lifestyle in the UK with a five-bedroom, £4.5million mansion in Weybridge, Surrey, and he also has a apartment in London, where he answers to the title "Your Excellency".
As well as football, his favourite activities include golf and karaoke, performing with Sarunrat Visutthithada, known as Lydia, queen of Thai R&B.
The club source added: "Who knows what the badge will be in the end, but if it's reflecting Shinawatra it could be a Thai man dressed in golf gear singing karaoke. It's ridiculous."
