Derby County were a club in crisis last season. Dropping into administration, the Rams were docked 21 points and suffered two failed takeovers.
Those takeover failures looked to be behind them after Chris Kirchner was appointed as the preferred bidder by joint administrators Quantuma.
The exclusivity to Kirchner’s status drifted away at 5 pm on June 10th with the American failing to complete a deal for Derby.
Sky Sports (below) have confirmed that former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley remains interested.
Sky Sports News has exclusively seen a letter written today by lawyers acting for Mike Ashley, sent to the lawyers acting for Derby County's administrators ⤵️pic.twitter.com/EWI7JoGNRI
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) June 11, 2022
Ashley confirms Derby County interest
The presenter on the above video confirms that Ashley still has an interest in taking on Derby County.
He says that Sky Sports News has seen a letter written by Ashley’s lawyers sent to Quantuma’s lawyers confirming that he remains interested in a takeover of his own.
The said letter also states, according to Sky Sports News, that Ashley is disappointed about the lack of engagement with joint-administrators Quantuma.
The letter also adds, as a platitude, that Ashley looks forward to hearing from Quantuma on an urgent basis.
Sun man Alan Nixon – in a tweet on his personal Twitter feed – confirms the contact between Mike Ashley and Quantuma’s lawyers.
Derby. First line of Ashley legal email. So there WAS contact from the admins yesterday … with ALL interested parties. pic.twitter.com/4T45rn4Qht
— Alan Nixon (@reluctantnicko) June 11, 2022
Preferred bidder to open season at Pride Park
Kirchner’s removal as the ‘preferred bidder’ for Derby County doesn’t mean that he is out of the race. All it means is he didn’t complete by the agreed deadline.
As he didn’t meet the agreed deadline it means that others can now begin to put together their bids. These bids would run alongside Kirchner’s agreement, adding a level of competition to proceedings.
At the centre of all of this is one constant – Derby County fans. These fans saw their Championship season wrecked to the extent it led to League One relegation.
Now they are watching another takeover seemingly crumble into chaos and confusion. What they want is stability; what they are getting isn’t that.
Hopefully, sooner rather than later, this situation will be resolved and these fans get a more stable owner.