Prince explains why he overlooked Leeds to plough his money into Sheffield United

Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad bin Abdulaziz al Saud has bought a 50 per cent stake in the League One club and has promised to invest millions to fund their pursuit of a return to the Premier League within five years.

It is suggested that £20m over the next two years is being put aside to strengthen David Weir’s side after the Prince was unveiled by the Blades on Saturday.

There he revealed he had originally wanted to buy a Championship club and had held talks with Leeds, Derby County and Charlton Athletic.

Prince Abdullah even produced a letter of intent to enter negotiations into buying the Elland Road club.

But, with a strict set of guidelines on what the deal must meet, the Prince’s team were unable to progress.

Prince Abdullah said that, unlike the Blades, where he has bought a 50 per cent stake in the debt-free club for a nominal £1 with the promise to invest millions, the purchase of Leeds would not have been “straightforward”.

“Leeds? It’s also a historic club,” Prince Abdullah told the Yorkshire Post.

“But it’s not every club you look at that you feel excited by.

“The financial situation (at Leeds) was, I wouldn’t say messy, but it was not as straightforward a deal as this one was. Hopefully, I’ve made the right decision.”

He denied reports he is worth $18bn – “family money” he says, being the grandson of the founder of Saudi Arabia and the nephew of King Abdullah. His estimated personal wealth is around £130m.

While the Leeds talks ended due to the Prince’s parameters not being met, he did agree to waive two of those – wanting a Championship club and to be in full control – when it came to joining the Blades.

United are in League One and he has become joint-owner with Kevin McCabe.

Jim Phipps, the Prince’s principal adviser, has been involved hands-on with the Riyadh-based royal to purchase an English club.

He said they were impressed with Leeds, but, from an early stage, realised the two groups were not aligned for success.

“At two different points in time we were asked about our interest (in Leeds),” said Phipps. “We did some follow-up on those occasions and we made a decision not to be involved.

“I have to tell you only a fool would think Leeds is not a great club. It has so much to offer.

“But Prince Abdullah gave me a set of parameters that would apply to any English football club purchase that he would consider.

“I could not make Leeds in those parameters. The same was true with other approaches from other clubs. We took a parameter-based approach and made only two exceptions which ended up making this investment.

“On the two different occasions (with Leeds) we had multiple people involved and, at one point, we even gave a letter of intent. We were willing to explore it in a serious way. When you do a letter of intent that’s not very far into the process, it’s like first baby steps. But the net result was a decision, relatively early, not to proceed further.”

It is believed the first opportunity to invest in Leeds came when Ken Bates was owner, and a second approach came after GFH Capital took charge at Elland Road.