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Derby County back in trouble as worrying update emerges over expected takeover

Derby County are back in trouble as a worrying update emerges over the expected takeover according to reports Wednesday morning.

Rams fans woke up to bad news regarding the takeover after the expected buyer, Chris Kirchner, has been unable to deliver the funds to close the deal at ‘multiple’ meetings in the last week.

The American entrepreneur told fans on Twitter that Bank Holidays in the US and UK had complicated the process, and on Wednesday morning, BBC Sport Derby said the takeover is expected to collapse.

Despite his countless reassurances via social media, parties close to the deal have told Sportsmail they are now concerned it may not proceed at all, after financial close was not achieved on Friday and again on Monday.

One source said there have been ‘multiple suggested completion times and he has missed all of them. We are waiting. Is it today or tomorrow…? It is a very strange situation. It is a completely unacceptable situation.’

Previously, the EFL said it expected the purchase to be completed by the 31st of May with hopes of rescuing Derby County from administration being prolonged, so it’s no wonder supporters have been desperate for the news of takeover completion these last eight long months, which also saw the club suffer a 21-point deduction and subsequently have relegation to League One confirmed.

The club went into administration last September after former owner, Mel Morris, overspent in his pursuit of promotion to the Premier League. The East Midlands outfit was left with huge debts of around £60M, plus other money owed to Morris.

Any buyer for the club has had to not only address the debt to bring the Rams out of administration, while meeting EFL insolvency rules, but also do a deal over Pride Park, which remains in the ownership of Morris.

Kirchner appeared to have succeeded with his proposal to sort out the debts being accepted by the administrator, Quantuma, and he received the green light from the EFL.

The EFL gave Kirchner ‘conditional approval’ to acquire Derby County in mid-May, this led to being asked to see proof of funds and appeared to be satisfied.

‘Final approval is subject to Mr Kirchner completing on the Asset Purchase Agreement and a deal being finalised in respect of a lease on the stadium by 31 May 2022,’ said the EFL at the time.

It’s understood the condition relating to the stadium has been met with local company, Clowes Developments, whose chairman, David Clowes, saying he is a loyal supporter of Derby County, agreeing to buy Pride Park off Morris and lease it to Kirchner.

Sportsmail report that deal between Clowes and Morris is signed and the money is in place but all that remains is for Kirchner to put his money on the table and the takeover can be finalised, according to sources sources.

However there is a claim that lawyers for all parties wanted to sign on the dotted line and exchange contracts on several occasions, but have been let down. As of Wednesday 8th of June, no date for a further closure meeting has been agreed, raising more questions.

‘The administrator is going to have to make a decision on what point they say you have not come up with the money, you have not fulfilled the conditions of the deal,’ said a source.

On the 27th of May, Kirchner tweeted ‘officially closing on Tuesday’ [May 31]. Though, when that did not happen, Kirchner moved to allay fans’ concerns last Thursday [2nd of June].

‘Nothing to be alarmed about,’ he tweeted. ‘End of May was chosen because of scheduling for EFL… and everyone collectively didn’t think about the 3 combined bank holidays this week.

‘Working through it and believe we have it resolved. Enjoy your weekend of celebrations.’

Kirchner remained silence on the takeover since, though will no doubt or at least be expected to on Wednesday with this news coming out, those close to the American’s bid insist the delay is down to logistical issues around the Bank Holidays and not to funds being unavailable.

If Kirchner does not proceed, it’s possibly not all doom and gloom for Derby, with Sportsmail understanding that there are two other interested parties. One of them is former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley as many of us know.

The League One season is set to get underway on the 30th of July, and manager Wayne Rooney still needs to know whats going on behind the scenes at the club, so that he can keep or get rid of the players he wants in the hope of getting the club back to the Championship.

Fans reacted to reports that Derby County are back in trouble for now as a worrying update emerges over the expected takeover…

@tolmeistertol: FFS!!

@AlastairRichar5: This could be the end of the club 🙈

@terryrowland64: Fixtures are due out in a couple of weeks. If we’re not viable, have no squad and no ground to play at, we won’t be included. When we think things can’t get any worse….

@dcfctomdcfc: Chris talks the talk, seems he can’t walk the walk

@SheepShagger111: Another club killer 😡

@woodwardio79: This shit is starting to get serious now 😟 On the verge of extinction

@timbo_dolman: There has to be questions asked on the proof of funds process. The EFL has to explain why their due diligence has never picked these things up 😡

@dailyasanovic: @quantuma1 what due diligence on funds did you ACTUALLY carry out when you named preferred bidder ? Investigation in to your conduct required

@MattFre97415645: This is deja vu. The administrators and EFL are not doing their job properly. Either there is funding and they’ve seen proof and the deal should be simple or there isn’t, they’ve been conned and if that’s the case then that’s at least twice they’ve been fooled!

@Samtoon15: Did they not learn from him trying to buy Preston but not showing proof of money 🤣

@Banno1289: I’m sorry but Derby has had enough time to sort this out! Failed to meet several deadlines (including extended deadlines). Why wasn’t Bury or Macclesfield given this much time???

@diamondgeeezer: Fingers crossed it gets sorted ASAP. The fans getting the brunt of this mess being left in the dark.

@coyi_hammers: Hope something is sorted. The rest of the football community don’t want to see the club dissappear

@Matthew_Jones6: If I’m Wayne Rooney, I resign the second this takeover fails. Why would he stay? Let’s be realistic here. He’s got absolutely nothing to prove and will walk into another job if he wants to. #dcfc

@xhannahrose_: Why is it the fans have suffered the most in every aspect of this #dcfc

@MattJClough: Really feel for #DCFC, massive parallels between what #BWFC suffered through. The golden rule of successful takeovers – 95% of the time, you won’t know it’s happening until it’s done. The ones where they spend months courting the fans & media are invariably the ones that collapse

@rooneysrams: What the fuck is happening to our club. What the fuck have quantuma and EFL been doing. They selected @cskirchner as the preferred bidder and when it comes to closing the deal with cash he can’t!! We have been well and truly fucked!! Fuming 😡 #dcfc

@JonoVallans: Just liquidate us, absolutely fucking sick of all this shit now! It is Derby all over to go for potential owners who turn out to be frauds ffs #dcfc

@DerbyStatistics: Ffs… knew this was coming, we can’t catch a break! Why have we wasted months and months of time for this to happen again! #dcfc #dcfcfans

@South12Stander: Rooney must seriously care about this club! Every time he turns a corner and thinks things are looking up another bit of shit is thrown at him! No way on earth should he of had to pay the players wages #dcfc

@MDrabble: You know it’s bad when Wayne Rooney had to pay your players wages #dcfc

@philrandall: Wow. Dark and very worrying times for #DCFC. Surely no one wants to see the club disappear. This is shocking and reflects appallingly on the main parties involved. 😡 #NFFC

@Gems171: It pains me to say it, but I don’t think there’s enough time for all the checks from the EFL etc, even if someone else is waiting to buy DCFC. I think we are in real trouble now. 😢 #dcfc

@BrandonDCFC: Ahhh fucking hell man we’re fucked 😭 #dcfc

@dcfc87: Even if there are other bidders waiting in the wings, is there enough time for due diligence etc to be completed before the start of the season? I think we’re actually in big, big trouble here. #dcfc

@Ewan_Valentine: How on earth can we be back at this point, again #dcfc #dcfcfans 🤦🏻‍♂️

@dcfcg02: If the takeover does well and truly collapse, serious questions have to be asked by both the EFL & Quantuma as to why the deal got this far. I genuinely hope it’s a delay in the payment being transferred and not the takeover collapsing as a whole. 😞🐏 #dcfc #dcfcfans

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