Kieran Maguire: Sunderland could now name new CEO and sanction ‘big’ investment
Kyril Louis-Dreyfus’ new status as majority owner at Sunderland gives him the power to appoint a new chief executive and make “big” investment decisions.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about recent developments behind-the-scenes at the Stadium of Light.
Louis-Dreyfus until recently only owned a 41 per cent stake in Sunderland, with a large chunk of equity retained by wantaway stakeholders Charlie Methven and Stewart Donald.
But the club announced on Wednesday (22 June) that the Frenchman has now moved to 51 per cent, with co-owner Juan Sartori increasing his stake to 30 per cent.
Sunderland’s closest thing to a CEO at present is chief operating officer Steve Davison.
Maguire claimed that Louis-Dreyfus will now have far greater freedom in terms of his ability to dictate the makeup of the club’s board.
“If someone has a majority stake, it allows them to appoint directors at the AGM,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“Therefore you can ensure that continuity throughout the club because the owner, the chief executive and the board are focused on the same goals together.
“Donald and Methven became a bit of a laughing stock because of the revelations about them in the Amazon documentary. It did not reflect positively on the club. They were inexperienced and naive with regard to decision-making.
“It will also allow Louis-Dreyfus to inject more money into the club because it’s easier to make big investment decisions.“
Sunderland have also announced that there will be no further buy-ins in the immediate future.
This has put an end to cryptocurrency firm The Fans Together’s ambitions to invest in the club.
In other news, Preston North End, Huddersfield Town and Sunderland in race to sign Ravel Morrison.