Derby County have some prospective new owners according to The Sun, with some unnamed American investors having toured the club’s facilities in ‘secret’.
Derby County have been caught up in a classic takeover ‘saga’ this season. All was going to plan before Sheikh Khaled’s bid ran into ‘cash flow problems’ at the final hurdle, with the deal still up in the air.
It left Derby County unable to pay player wages from December and saw them transfer embargoed for part of last month’s transfer window.
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But reports claim that the takeover is still on track to be completed. Current Derby County owner Mel Morris says that Sheikh Khaled – a relative of Manchester City’s Sheikh Mansour – has a contractual obligation to buy Derby County eventually.
Now though, there’s a new suitor in town. The Sun describes them as ‘American bidders’ and the first name that springs to mind is MSD UK Holdings – an investment group run by technology tycoon Michael Dell.
It’s not the first time we’ve heard of American investors heading for English football this season. So why is that these investors are so interested in English clubs at the moment?
“Football is seen as a real growth market by American firms who, by bringing their own technological expertise, feel that there are new avenues to be explored by clubs in the long-run,” The Sunderland Echo.
MSD already has investments in Burnley and Southampton, and had tried to buy out Sunderland in the past too.
The Sun’s report claims that MSD has previously invested in Derby County having pumped ‘millions’ into the club last year – the financiers ‘may yet step in’ at Derby County, and that MSD ‘would be happy to have an ally taking charge’
But as with any takeover, and as with anything positive that Derby County try and muster, something doesn’t look quite right.
A report from The Sunderland Echo in October last year detailed how Sunderland had received in the region of £12million from a group caled FFP Sunderland who had close ties with Dell, before saying how a ‘similar, albeit different group’ had invested in Derby County and Sunderland.
That ‘group’ is surely MSD UK Holdings, right? But what’s interesting is why this Dell character keeps popping up, funding different groups called ‘allies’ under different names, leaving all roads pointing to his group, MSD.
Derby County fans having had their hopes of a takeover slammed this season may not be keen on hearing stories of a fresh takeover bid, and of hearing how it’s an American investment group which, although reports don’t claim it to be MSD, could likely turn out to be.
It’s all a bit confusing. But for Wayne Rooney, his side need to deal with the on-pitch matter of avoiding relegation into League One – they travel to bottom-club Wycombe Wanderers this week.
