How do you treat a football team that has defeated all odds to claim the Premier League title? There was talk of Leicester City’s Thai owners buying players an electric Mercedes-Benz B-Class each – but instead, a fleet of 19 brand new BMW i8s has been delivered to the team’s King Power Stadium.
Posting the pictures on Facebook, Leicester City fan page first4LCFC said: “These are the gifts promised to the players following last season’s triumphs. Unbelievable scenes!”
With a list price of £104,540, this line-up of BMW i8s will have cost Leicester bosses nearly £2,000,000 if they were bought outright.
Fans were quick to respond, with Lynne Orridge commenting: “Well deserved I say, they made a lot of people happy with their win – and not just Leicester fans.”
But not everyone thinks treating footballers to a fleet of expensive supercars was the best way of spending the cash.
Cheryl Taylor commented: “[It] is nice the the club spent money on the players. They put the cost of the away coach up from £10 to £18 and the parking at home games up £10.”
The club’s Thai chairman, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, is said to be worth around £1.15 billion.
The BMW i8 combines an electric motor with a 1.5-litre petrol engine. It can hit 62mph in 4.4 seconds and top speed is limited to 155mph.