Derby County’s administrators yet to receive formal bid as Wednesday’s deadline to buy club looms | Football News
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.
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Highlights of the Sky Bet Championship match between Derby and Peterborough
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
Former Derby owner Mel Morris issued a statement earlier this month which included an invitation to Middlesbrough and Wycombe to take up their claims against him personally
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.
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Highlights of the Sky Bet Championship match between Middlesbrough and Derby County
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”.
