A mystery American consortium may make a bid for Leeds United. They are understood to have toured Elland Road and the Thorpe Arch training facility this week.
Leeds finished 14th in the Championship last season and supporters voted with their feet as the average home attendance fell by more than 4,000. Fans consider that the club has been languishing in the Championship for too long and would welcome solid new investment that would underwrite a sustained bid for promotion.
A mystery American consortium may make a bid for Leeds United. They are understood to have toured Elland Road and the Thorpe Arch training facility this week.
Leeds finished 14th in the Championship last season and supporters voted with their feet as the average home attendance fell by more than 4,000. Fans consider that the club has been languishing in the Championship for too long and would welcome solid new investment that would underwrite a sustained bid for promotion.
Leeds have been financially stable since their insolvency in 2007 but the need for an injection of cash at Elland Road appeared to be underlined by the club’s recent failure to sign Joel Ward from Portsmouth. The club’s administrators wanted £400,000 for him and he ended up going to Crystal Palace.
No one is sure who the potential bidders are. There have been rumours of a consortium from the Middle East, but it seems that the interest comes from Chicago. Club 9 Sports, who made an unsuccessful bid for Sheffield Wednesday in 2010, have ruled themselves out.
One possibility is Thomas S Ricketts who owns the Cubs, a top baseball outfit. He is already a major shareholder at Derby County and may feel that the time has come to own his own club as a more visible trophy. He is an investment banker and his family is worth $1bn so he would not be short of funds.
Leeds United are an attractive proposition as a stand alone club in a major city, but they do not own their ground or their training facility. Ken Bates currently has a 72.85 per cent stake in Leeds and one question is whether he would be prepared to sell at a realistic price to a serious bidder.