Waiting for someone to purchase Sheffield United has been like waiting for a cab for more than two years; it’s always “just around the corner” and never outside the door. There have been a lot of encouraging sounds for months, but no real action.
The lengthy name over the entrance at Bramall Lane doesn’t change, but the cast does.
With a £105 million deal reportedly on the table and American businessmen Helmy Eltoukhy and Steven Rosen undoubtedly involved, a club in limbo may make a complete mess of things if the uncertainty is prolonged even for a few weeks, much alone until Premier League promotion.
The Blades’ dominance of the Championship despite the events in the boardroom is impressive and a chance that should not be passed up.
It is painfully clear that Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad bin Abudlaziz Al Saud lacks the resources to turn the Blades into the team they should be, but there are far too few details to determine whether Rosen and Eltoukhy would make good custodians, and the length of time it took them to change the COH Sports consortium in order to obtain Football League approval is not good for the pessimists.
The breakdown of the previous two takeovers to come out in the open was caused by the Saudi prince’s bad character judgement, as failing to convince the League of their money proved to be the least of Henry Mauriss and Dozy Mmobuos’s issues. For fraud, Mauriss was imprisoned in California and Mmobuosi was fined over $250 million (£196 million) in New York.
Please pardon us for not being overconfident if Prince Abdullah believes he can engage in a greed-driven strategic waiting game.
A week after COH announced they were seeking to complete a “rapid” takeover, more than two weeks after manager Chris Wilder pleaded for “clarity,” and after Blades chairman Yusuf Giansiracusa issued a brief statement promising updates “over the coming days,” the brief flurry of information has ceased, and conjecture has taken its place.
It was telling that Wilder remained silent after COH went public.
Although it’s unclear how sticky it is, promotion is believed to be the sticking point. Seldom do cards end up on the table in conversations such as these.
Some claim that the Prince wants a larger payment if the Blades win the promotion because he didn’t pay his bills on time when the team finished last in the division, which cost him two points.
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