Derby County have seen their takeover run face first into the final hurdle – the deal remains on the table, but the ‘wait is on the funds dropping into place.’

That’s how The Derbyshire Telegraph explained what’s beset the club in the past 24 hours. Derby County’s prospective new owner Sheikh Khaled Zayed Bin Saquer Zayed Al Nayhan of Derventio Holdings (UK) remains keen on completing the takeover, taking over from a highly contested Mel Morris.

Yesterday though, news broke that the club had been unable to pay its players in full for December:

Given the financial hardships of 2020, fans are obviously weary of what’s currently going on behind the scenes at Derby County. Looking to The Sun’s Alan Nixon for answers, he gave Derby fans a timely boost:

With the Sheikh deal seemingly up in the air though it’s cast huge amounts of doubt over the whole process. As per Nixon, if the Sheikh deal falls through then Derby County will be left frantically looking for a new owner:

What’s worse is that, this morning, The Derbyshire Telegraph have reported that the club might have to sell one or two players this month to ensure they can pay their players in full.

The likes of Jason Knight and Louie Sibley came into question, with both having been linked with moves away this month.

Tweeting on the matter this morning, Nixon said:

The next 24, 48 hours at Pride Park could be some of the biggest in the club’s modern history. They’ve shown on the pitch this season that they’re still a club with potential and given time, Wayne Rooney looks as though he would’ve steered the club from relegation.

Now, with off-field matters likely to claim all their headlines, it’ll put pressure on the players to ease off-field matters by winning on the field. Up next for them is the visit of Rotherham United this weekend.