Takeover silence and mounting debts: how did it come to this for Derby? | Ed Aarons

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Proposed Middle Eastern buyout has failed to materialise and owner Mel Morris’s top-flight dream is more distant than ever

“I hope together we can help steer this club back into a sustainable place in the Premier League,” said Mel Morris in September 2015. Born and raised in Littleover – less than five miles from Pride Park – the man who made most of his estimated £500m fortune after backing the firm behind the mobile gaming app Candy Crush Saga had finally achieved a lifelong dream of buying his beloved Derby.

The club had missed out on the play-offs a few months earlier and Morris’s optimism appeared understandable. Yet 10 full-time and interim managers later, Derby are battling to avoid relegation under Wayne Rooney with a squad whose wages were unpaid at the beginning of January. The club no longer owns its own stadium and has mortgaged its training ground in pursuit of further finance.

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from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/feb/25/derby-takeover-silence-and-mounting-debts-how-did-it-come-to-this

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