An exclusive interview with football’s Manish Bhasin

There are very few things that leave veteran sports journalist Manish Bhasin flustered.

But a gigantic spider running amok in his car while cruising down the motoring is definitely one of them, as he revealed during a new chat with Select Car Leasing.

Manish, 46, will be familiar to any readers with a love of football.

He has fronted shows for the BBC including Football Focus, The Football League Show, and Match of the Day 2, and he’s also part of the Premier League Productions team, creating content that’s used across the globe.

The lifelong Leicester City fan has also covered several World Cups, most recently making the journey to Qatar to see Argentina lift the trophy after triumphing over France.

We’re proud to say that Manish is also a Select Car Leasing customer, enjoying a stunning Range Rover Velar and an environmentally-friendly electric Tesla Model 3.

And the TV broadcaster kindly agreed to fill us in on everything from transfer deadline day dramas and his thoughts on the controversial winter World Cup, to why he’s a sucker for a classic French executive saloon….

So, Manish, the January transfer window has just slammed shut. Which move really caught the eye for you?

Well, it’s got to be Enzo Fernández, the Argentina midfielder who has joined Chelsea for £107m, breaking the British transfer record. The money is incredible. And for someone who cost Benfica £8m just 12 months ago, it’s quite the story. We knew Fernández was a talent, but few people were talking about him before the World Cup and at the start of the tournament you’d never have thought he’d be coming to the Premier League for such a huge fee. Chelsea appear to be seriously on a mission to improve, having hoovered-up some of the best players in world football. Manager Graham Potter now looks to have all the tools to make Chelsea a true force again. And Potter seems to have had a real say in all of the signings that the club has made, so it’s not a case of American owner Todd Boehly going above his head. Now Potter just needs time, in my opinion.

And what about your beloved Leicester City..?

We’ve brought a Brazilian forward in, Tetê, but Marc Albrighton and Ayoze Pérez have gone out, so it means we’re actually one winger down from where we were prior to the transfer window opening. I guess the big thing for Leicester City is that the club’s owners, the Srivaddhanaprabha family, have written-off £194m in debt that they'd loaned to the club. I mean, for them to do that, is quite incredible. Our owners have started taking a little bit of heat from Leicester fans in the last couple of transfer windows, but, honestly, they’ve got such short memories considering our recent history. Will Leicester stay up this season? It’s a question I’m trying not to answer! We’re only half way through the season and there’s still a lot of football to play. I’m cautiously optimistic for the future.

You were in Qatar for the World Cup. Looking back now, what are thoughts on the event, and what was the experience like?

There’s no doubt that the World Cup attracted controversy. And when I went out there, it was pretty evident that a lot of the negative media reporting had hurt the people of Qatar - those living in Doha in particular - because for a lot of them they were just desperate to put on a show that would be spoken about for years to come. And I think for people who were making a judgement call from a distance, it was easy to view the World Cup in a certain way… unless you were fortunate enough to be there.

It’s important to stress here that I do not agree with everything that’s going on, or has gone on, in Qatar - absolutely not. You cannot live in denial, and all of the issues surrounding the World Cup need to be addressed.

But I will say this. I was there for the last ten days of the tournament - the two semi finals, the third-fourth playoff, and then the final - and I had a bit of time to just take in the atmosphere, and to see how the whole thing had come together. It was well-organised, efficient, and the football was sensational. From my perspective, I have to say that I came back with a very different view compared to when I’d first flown out to Qatar.

I was involved in lots of cultural discussions, talking with people about humanity and faith, as well as sport. Religion is clearly very important to the people of Qatar. But the culture of the country is about so much more than that - it’s also about how people live their lives.

With alcohol restricted at the stadiums, the atmosphere between fans was completely different than what I’m used to. The competitive edge and the passion was still there, for sure, but there was an absence of hostility, of aggression. You just didn’t feel uncomfortable at any point, at any time, day or night. I loved experiencing the night scene in Doha, which is still buzzing until two or three o’clock in the morning, but there are no pubs and clubs chucking-out drunks. Instead you have families enjoying the souks and the markets, and groups of people just enjoying themselves. There was just a great energy about the place.

It was also interesting to see how the controversy around the placing of a robe on Argentina’s Lionel Messi as he lifted the World Cup played out. I was out there for two days after the final, and the guys I was with just couldn’t get their heads around why this well-meaning gesture was attracting so much negativity. There was this narrative that the World Cup organisers had somehow ‘spoiled‘ an incredible moment. But the people I was with were asking, ‘What have we done so wrong? We were just bestowing on Messi something reserved for Royalty. We don’t understand why we’ve hurt so many people because it was never meant that way’. All in all, it was a fascinating experience.

Manish - talk to me about cars. Would you consider yourself a ‘petrolhead’?

I’m definitely not a petrolhead and I had never had posters of cars on my bedroom walls. When I was growing up my mum and dad had a bog-standard Datsun, then a Nissan Stanza hatchback, so nothing exotic. For me, motoring is about driving something that looks nice and which is also practical, and I’m quite picky about choosing cars, particularly when it comes to factoring-in the kids (Manish is a father of two) and the ability to carry golf bags!

First car…?

It was a Peugeot 205 (above). It was just a small runaround, nothing fancy. When I was a teenager, my parents weren’t particularly keen for me to learn to drive so I didn’t actually pass my test until I was 21, which is quite rare. My mum and dad were always really liberal with us growing up, but they wanted to drum into us a sense of maturity before we got behind the wheel of a car, which I think is a pretty sensible plan. I started having my driving lessons while doing my postgraduate journalism diploma at Cardiff University - when I was in the same class as money-saving expert Martin Lewis and BBC 5 Live’s Alistair Bruce-Ball.

What came after the Peugeot 205?

My dad used to have a Renault 25 (above), which I remember as being one of the first talking cars, with this amazing voice synthesiser. It used to say things like, ‘Fuel level low’ or ‘boot open’. And I loved it. As a result, at 24 years old, I got a Renault 25 just like my dad’s! It was totally out of place to where I was in my life, as it was this posh, executive saloon, which I had no business driving, really. 

I went from a boxy Peugeot to what looked like a luxury car - albeit one that had done a fair amount of miles. But the Renault 25 was lovely, and great to drive.

So did you stick with French cars, then?

When I moved to London I didn’t actually have a car for a good few years, because I just didn’t need one. But when I got married just after the World Cup in Germany in 2006, I got a BMW 3 Series, then a BMW X3, then a Mercedes-Benz GLC. And I’ve now had the Range Rover Velar (above and below) - through Select - for three years. 

It’s the first British car I’ve had, and I absolutely love it. It’s funny, really. When I told a few friends, who know a lot about cars, that I was getting a Velar, they said, ‘Oh, that’s quite bold’, because I was going from a German car with a reputation for reliability to something all-out British. There are certain connotations that come with that choice. But I’ve had no issues whatsoever with the Velar - all I’ve had to do is change the tyres. It looks phenomenal, the ride is fantastic, and it’s the perfect car for me because it does the job I want it to do perfectly. We also have the best of both worlds in our family as my wife has an all-electric Tesla Model 3.

Any mishaps or near-misses on the road?

There’s one particularly unpleasant incident…involving a spider.

We were in the BMW 3 Series as a family, on the M4 near Bristol having just visited the in-laws in Wales. All of a sudden, I hear this blood-curdling scream from the back - and my wife isn’t the type to scare easily. But she was beside herself. There was this huge spider - 8cm long, big body - which then scuttled under my seat. I pulled over on the hard shoulder and, to my embarrassment, a Highways Agency patrol pulled up behind me with its lights on and asked me what was going on. One of the guys, who was huge, 6ft tall, turned to his colleague and said, ‘You’re dealing with this!’ and ran off - which made me feel slightly better about the situation! The guy managed to grab the spider, holding it away from his body while also looking terrified, before throwing it onto the grass verge. It was an eventful day, that’s for sure.

I’ve also made the schoolboy error of running out of fuel with the kids in the car. I was looking at the gauge, watching it go down rapidly, and breaking out into a cold sweat, thinking, ‘I’m in trouble here…’ Thankfully my youngest slept through the whole thing.

Can you tell us about the work you do for charity?

I’m an ambassador for a couple of charities. The British Asian Trust, which is founded and headed by King Charles, is committed to raising awareness of things that need to be addressed in South East Asia.

I’m also an ambassador for a charity called One Family, which has a mission to work towards equal opportunity and prosperity for all. One Family has been working with another local charity to fight child trafficking in Nepal, and a couple of years ago I went to Kathmandu to see the work being done at first hand. It was quite an incredible, eye-opening and heart-breaking experience meeting families and children affected by trafficking, or talking to kids who were in danger of being trafficked. I think being a parent yourself gives these problems added meaning, too.

There’s a seven-day trek being organised through the foothills of the Himalayas to help raise money for the project, and I’m hoping to take part. There are obviously so many charities that need help, particularly in the UK, but for me it’s about doing the best that I can with the profile I’ve got.

I’m also involved in the cricket-based charity Lord's Taverners, raising money for children with disabilities in the UK. I take part in charity cricket matches where celebs face-off against local village sides, and I love it, it’s great fun.

** You can follow Manish on Twitter or Instagram.

 Enjoyed this? Read our latest news:

• Why the Zeekr X crossover is UK-bound
  
• Red carpet treatment for the Volkswagen ID.4
  
• A virtual sneak-peek at the Polestar 3
  
• The Select community: making wedding day dreams come true
  
• Nissan unveils ‘Max-Out’ concept

Where To Next?

For all the latest reviews, advice and new car deals, sign up to our newsletter.

Looking for a great leasing deal? Check out our incredible range of special offers.

Read our latest reviews and find the right model for you.

Want to know more about leasing? Take a look at our comprehensive leasing guides.

Interested in everything motoring? Why not catch up on all the latest car leasing news.