This Leeds United buyout: What’s really going on?

PROOF of funds and proof of identity. Ken Bates is steadfast in his belief that these must be the basic requirements asked of any party purporting to be interested in Leeds United.

The United chairman has had, by his own admission, to deal with too many “time-wasters” over the past seven-and-a-half years to do anything else. A failure to provide either means an abrupt end to the conversation.

Readers of Bates’s column in the United matchday programme are well-versed in this stance. So, when a club statement on June 26 confirmed both criteria had been met by a mystery consortium bidding to take charge at Elland Road and that a period of exclusivity had been granted, supporters really did start to believe that change was on the way.

Even the subsequent silence from the club did nothing to temper that belief. Not with Neil Warnock making signings at such a swift rate that four arrived in one day and, perhaps most surprisingly of all considering the offers he had to go elsewhere, Aidy White agreeing a new, long-term contract.

The suggestion that the prospective new owners, believed to be a Middle East consortium looking to conclude the deal through an off-shore bank, had provided the funds for Warnock’s squad strengthening only added to the feeling within the city of Leeds that all was well.

That they had also been involved in attempts to keep Robert Snodgrass at Elland Road merely cemented that belief, as did the Yorkshire Post being told by sources last month that everything was in place – including the funds – while the finishing touches were put to the deal.

Such confidence on the part of those close to the negotiations was why this newspaper has, whenever a Leeds story has appeared, stuck to the line that the takeover was continuing to progress at a steady rate. And that matters would be finalised in early August.

The first doubts that all may not be well came last weekend when Warnock revealed in the wake of the friendly at Preston North End that he’d have to generate funds to bring in a striker and a winger, the last two pieces in the jigsaw the United manager has been piecing together since the end of last season.

Chief executive Shaun Harvey flying out to Monaco on Wednesday for talks with Bates then raised further fears that a major stumbling block had appeared.

By the time he had flown back into Leeds-Bradford Airport yesterday afternoon, Leeds was alive with talk that the takeover had collapsed. It proved premature, a club statement released shortly before 5pm admitting that the exclusivity period granted to the Middle East bidder may have ended.

But that United remained “happy to continue discussions but not on an exclusive basis, so as not to prevent other options passing”.

To those familiar with business parlance, the inference seemed clear. The bidder should put up or shut up. And that whatever problems may have arisen over the past week or so, let’s iron them out and a deal can still be done.

Whether that was the intention of the United statement, only the club hierarchy – and their legal advisors – know. But what is surely not in doubt is that any other interested parties now have the green light to make a move.

Let’s not forget, all this talk of Middle East investment came on the back of a North American group first showing interest. And that matters progressed far enough for representatives to be shown round Elland Road and the club’s Thorp Arch training ground in late May.

Just what caused the Americans to back away and leave the field clear for a second group is unclear.

But there can be little doubt that United, thanks to their supporter base, remain an attractive proposition for any would-be investor. The £10m profit that Leeds have posted since coming out of administration in 2007 also helps.

All that, however, is for the future. The big question being asked by supporters last night was what happens in the immediate future.

The 2012-13 season kicks off tomorrow with a Capital One Cup first round tie at home to Shrewsbury Town but it is the visit of Wolverhampton Wanderers a week later that will be much more of a guide as to where United are at in terms of this season’s Championship.

Warnock has certainly been busy.

Not only has he brought in 10 new faces to transform a squad that had looked paper thin in the closing weeks of last season, but he has also done so in the most difficult of circumstances.

It is only a couple of months ago that the 63-year-old was seriously considering his future after United’s inability to raise £400,000 meant Joel Ward joined Crystal Palace despite the Portsmouth full-back intimating he fancied the move to West Yorkshire.

One management offer, in particular, was attractive. Warnock made this much clear when being interviewed earlier this week for a pre-season supplement that will be in next Thursday’s YP. He said: “It was tempting, I think even the chairman thought I’d leave.

“But I’ve never been someone to leave a club for money and I also do silly things sometimes. I turned Chelsea down once to stay at Notts County.

“Looking from the outside, people might think I was silly to stay here when I could have gone to a job with a lot more financial backing. But I do love it at Leeds. And if I can get success here, what a way to finish my career.”

If Warnock is able to claim the record-breaking eighth promotion he craves come May then it will be a tremendous achievement, possibly the finest of his career.

Not only did the United manager’s recruitment have to be put on ice for more than a month after Jason Pearce had joined from Pompey, but his subsequent dealings have taken place with the distraction of the takeover saga rumbling along in the background.

Yesterday, he made clear the wheeling and dealing would continue as Danny Pugh and Robbie Rogers were placed on the transfer list. Any saving in wages or transfer income raised will then, the United chief said, be ploughed back into the squad as he seeks those final two pieces of the jigsaw.

As for the club itself, the news that the much-touted takeover has stalled has not gone down well with those supporters keen for a fresh start.

Last season was, by common consent, a miserable affair at Elland Road with discontent on the terraces and poor performances on the pitch combining to leave most fans disillusioned and simply glad of a break come the final day defeat to Leicester City.

Yesterday will have done little to fire enthusiasm, meaning a positive start to a season has rarely been as important as it is right now.

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