Derby County’s administrators yet to receive formal bid as Wednesday’s deadline to buy club looms | Football News

February 23, 2022 admin

Derby County’s administrators are yet to receive a formal bid to buy the club, with the deadline for submissions at the end of Wednesday, Sky Sports News has been told.

The deadline was set by Derby’s administrators Quantuma last week, who believe all of the outstanding issues blocking a takeover have now been removed. However, there remains a huge debt burden at the club, which would have to be taken on by any new owner.

The administrator, Andrew Hosking, told Sky Sports News he was confident they would be able to appoint a preferred bidder by the end of this week – a key move in proving to the EFL that Derby have sufficient funds to fulfil their remaining fixtures this season.

The EFL has set a deadline for that to be proved by the end of this month, which is Monday.

Derby: What’s happened so far?

Went into administration five months ago.

Handed an automatic 12-point deduction by the EFL.

EFL imposes a further nine-point deduction for breaches of financial rules.

Sky Sports News reveals Derby’s debts are in excess of £60m.

Several thousand Derby fans march through the city demanding the club be saved.

January 31st – EFL deadline for Derby’s administrators to prove they have sufficient funds to complete this season’s fixtures.

Deadline was extended to February 28 after “positive talks”.

February 16 – Administrators wrote to all interested parties, setting a deadline of February 23 for the submission of formal bids to buy the club. Any would-be buyer has until the end of that date to make a bid.

Sky Sports News has been told there are three potential buyers: former Newcastle owner Mike Ashley, US-based Carlisle Group, and a consortium of local businesspeople headed by ex-Derby chairman Andy Appleby.

Administrators will then assess all bids on the table and appoint a preferred bidder before this weekend.

EFL will then reassess Derby’s business plan before Monday’s deadline, and if satisfied they have enough cash to complete the season, should lift their ban on new player registrations.

Derby manager Wayne Rooney would then be free to sign new players, who are currently out of contract.

This sort of brinkmanship is to be expected from the three parties interested in buying Derby, with each likely to submit their bids at the last minute to avoid any confidential figures being leaked to their rivals.

Former Newcastle owner Mike Ashley is competing with the US-based Carlisle group and a consortium of local business people headed by former chairman Andy Appleby.

Derby have been in administration since September, leading to a total deduction of 21 points.

Wayne Rooney’s side play Millwall at Pride Park on Wednesday night, and are now eight points from safety in the Championship following Reading’s victory over Birmingham on Tuesday.

Derby close to agreement with Boro

Earlier this month, Derby announced that an agreement between their former owner Mel Morris and Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson in relation to the ongoing legal case between the clubs is close.

The sale of Derby to new ownership has been complicated in part by the compensation claims of Boro and Wycombe.

Middlesbrough confirmed last month that they were suing Derby for “systematically cheating” while breaking the EFL’s financial rules in previous seasons.

Boro say that, had Derby not done so, they would have made the Championship play-offs and had the potential to earn tens of millions of pounds from promotion to the Premier League.

Wycombe’s claim states that they would not have been relegated to League One last season had Derby not broken the rules.

Derby said details of the accord – a harmonious agreement – between Morris and Gibson had been shared with the Rams’ administrators Quantuma ahead of the sides’ meeting in the Championship on February 12, which Boro won 4-1.

The news followed the release of a lengthy statement by Morris that included an invitation to Boro and Wycombe to take up their claims against him personally at the High Court.

Morris said this would allow his old club to “move on for the benefit of the fans, the city of Derby, the sport and the EFL”.

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