Crystal Palace sale: ‘US-Saudi bid could collapse despite John Textor deal’
Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor’s agreement to sell Eagle Football could yet by scuppered, reports The Athletic.
A group headed by Saudi Arabian-born brothers, Mansoor and Haider Syed have signed an exclusivity agreement to buy out Eagle Football, which owns a 45 per cent stake in Crystal Palace.
The group includes financial backing Dallas Maverick’s head coach, Jason Kidd, former Morgan Stanley sports executive Bejan Esmaili and former Roc Nation attorney executive Wajid Mir.
The offer of £148.4million has been accepted by Textor and the group will now be subject of Premier League approval.
However, Sportsbank, “a group brought together by the former Everton director and experienced football financier Keith Harris”, is also looking to become involved in the Palace ownership, but as investors in Eagle Football rather than owners and their offer could convince the Eagle board to dismiss the US-Saudi bid.
Any deal is expected to come down to who is first to satisfy the relevant conditions and signs an agreement to complete the purchase, both groups will look to move quickly to complete a deal.
Textor’s preference is said to be Sportsbank investment in Eagle which would then be used to continue pursuit of a controlling stake in the club, although he would depart from the board at Selhurst Park in that eventuality.
Textor has previously failed in his attempts to gain a majority stake and there have been disagreements with co-owner Steve Parish over his multi-club model which includes Lyon, Botafogo and RWD Molenbeek.
What do these bids mean for Crystal Palace
Football Insider opinion
Ownership news often comes with the excitement of potentially large investment into new players, but Palace are a long way off that point.
Neither group is yet to make a statement about their plans for the club on the pitch and both bids will be subject to heavy scrutiny by the Premier League.
We are likely to only find out about what each group has to offer the club when there is a more concrete agreement in place.
This news also comes the same day that Chelsea have been looking to re-sign Marc Guehi [BBC Sport] and are thinking about recalling loanee, Trevoh Chalobah [The Athletic], so any news of investment into the playing squad cannot come quickly enough.
Palace started slowly this season but have found some form under manager Oliver Glasner and moved up to 15th in the table.
This comes after losing star player, Michael Olise, to Bayern Munich in the summer for £50.8m.
Textor’s position remains as uncertain as ever, having so far failed to buy out his co-owners and then been beaten to an Everton purchase by The Friedkin Group, but he appears likely to step back from Crystal Palace one way or another.
In other news, Palace are ready to open talks with a key player this January.
For more Crystal Palace news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.