Leicester City takeover update as 'Middle Eastern consortium' assess deal
Leicester City are highly unlikely to be sold to the Middle Eastern consortium who are reportedly interested in taking over.
That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that investment groups of their nature are really keen to tackle a "turnaround" at clubs.
This comes amid the news that the Foxes' King Power owners are ready to try and sell the East Midlands outfit, following back-to-back relegations that have taken them down to League One.
However, Wyness believes that chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha and the rest of the club hierarchy must show patience, as they have created a "financial mess" at the club.
Leicester are now less than two weeks away from their opening game of the League One season away at Notts County, but their future behind the scenes remains up in the air.
The former Premier League champions are now in the third tier for just the second time in their entire history, and Wyness is adamant that it will seriously affect their chances of finding a buyer.
Keith Wyness rubbishes Leicester's Middle Eastern interest
Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that it is highly unlikely that the interest from the Middle Eastern consortium materialises in the coming months.
He made it clear that the proposed group are currently on the "periphery" in terms of the takeover situation at the moment, and are not likely to become a genuinely viable option.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, Wyness outlined that Middle Eastern investors typically tend to target more finished projects than Leicester.
"I'm always sceptical. I've been involved in many, many club deals over the years, and there's always some Middle Eastern consortium that's on the periphery somewhere, and they rarely come to anything," he said.
"I think when you look at Leicester, while there are great assets with the stadium and the beautiful training ground, and the fan base, et cetera, but still the financial mess they got themselves into means there isn't a lot of value there in terms of turning it around.
"And I don't think a lot of the Middle East consortiums want to buy into turnarounds that much. Most would prefer something a bit more of a finished article.
"I'd be very surprised if the Middle East group is real. There's a lot of talk from the Middle East, but I don't see much action."
Stefan Borson questions Leicester sale valuation
Former Manchester City financial advisor Stefan Borson recently told Football Insider that Leicester's owners face a serious "issue" in terms of how they price the club amid their sale plans.
He outlined that while King Power will hope to net as big a sum as possible from any potential deal, it will be difficult for them to push the club to potential buyers due to its rapid decline.
Borson believes that they will try to market the club at a Championship-level valuation, but he questioned whether that is truly the right tactic to use.
The football finance expert is adamant that any sale will not be straightforward for King Power, who have dug themselves into a hole financially.