Derby County: EFL rejects attempts by club to use insolvency laws to settle some debts

Derby County are currently seven points adrift of safety having been deducted 21 points

The EFL says Derby County must not use insolvency laws to settle some of their outstanding debts - if they wish to come out of administration.

The Championship club are the subject of unresolved compensation claims from fellow clubs Middlesbrough and Wycombe.

Derby say both should not be treated as "football-related debts".

In a statement, the EFL says it does not agree and feels the club's administrators Quantuma must now consider how they wish to proceed.

Quantuma have been given until the beginning of March to provide proof of how Derby will be funded for the rest of the season.

That deadline was extended from 1 February last Thursday.

Derby have been in administration since September and remain in the Championship relegation zone, seven points from safety, having already been deducted 21 points this season.

BBC Sport understands one of the club's potential buyers fears Derby are headed for liquidation.

The Binnie family submitted a formal £28m takeover offer last month, but that price did not include the club's stadium.

Pride Park is still owned by Mel Morris, who put Derby into administration. It also has a charge in excess of £20m to American finance company MSD, for which Morris is the guarantor.

"The club is suffering from critical legacy debt issues that reach into tens of millions, all of which need to be resolved if a solution is to be found," the EFL said.

"That also includes monies owed to HMRC and the loans from MSD secured against club assets and the stadium."

It has been suggested a combined payment of about £7m would settle the issues involving Middlesbrough and Wycombe.

Both clubs claim to have lost out because of Derby's financial rule breaches.

Boro missed out on the play-offs in 2019 while the Chairboys would have stayed up last season had the cases against Derby, that led to them being deducted nine points this term, been dealt with sooner.

But the Binnie family are understood to be be reluctant to commit to paying the settlement as well as the additional cost of buying both the club and the stadium.

The EFL also renewed its calls for "formal collaborative negotiations" between the current preferred bidder, Middlesbrough, Wycombe, Quantuma, Morris, MSD Partners and HMRC "to ensure Derby County has a long-term future".

Wycombe's American chairman Rob Couhig said: "Since last November, we have asked the administrators for a meeting to conduct good faith negotiations to resolve the issue between the two clubs.

"Despite repeated requests, we have never heard a word from them. Perhaps, now that the request has come from the EFL, they will finally agree to meet and try to come to a responsible commercial solution.

"As soon as I am told when and where the mediation will take place, I will fly back to the UK and personally attend."

Middlesbrough also responded to the EFL's plea for future negotiations by stating the club is "available to attend any meeting, wherever or whenever this may be, just as we always have been".

In a club statement, Boro also reiterated the stance that their claim against Derby is a "football-related debt" and welcomed confirmation from the EFL that it shares that view.

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