Former Fulham owner Mohamed Al Fayed believes that the club's luck ran out when their Michael Jackson statue was taken down at Craven Cottage.

New owner Shahid Khan decided to remove the tribute to the late pop icon, who used to be a personal friend of Al Fayed's, when he took over at Fulham last year.

Now, Al Fayed has claimed that Fulham's relegation to the Championship is down to losing their 'good luck charm'.

According to 101greatgoals.com, while presenting the statue to the National Football Museum in Manchester, Al Fayed said: "This statue was a charm and we removed the luck from the club and now we have to pay the price.

"When [Khan] asked me to move it I said, 'you must be crazy'. This is such a fantastic statue which the fans are crying out for, but now he has paid the price because the club has been relegated.

"He called me because he told me he wanted Michael to return. I told him, no way."

The Egyptian businessman agreed the sale of Fulham to Khan in July last year.