Birmingham City: EFL still awaits takeover activity at Championship club
- Published
Laurence Bassini was the owner of Watford until the summer of 2012
The English Football League said it is still to receive any information about a potential takeover at Championship club Birmingham City.
Former Watford owner Laurence Bassini told BBC Sport last month that a deal to buy the club was in its last stages and would be completed "within days".
That has not materialised, nor has the involvement of West Ham United co-owner and ex-Blues co- owner David Sullivan.
Bassini has said in various interviews that Sullivan was part of the deal.
Bassini gave his latest interview to TalkSport on Friday in which he repeated his claims, adding that he was going to 'win the league'.
He has previously told BBC Sport that he will not engage with the EFL as he is distrustful of it because of its dealings around his attempt to buy Bolton.
However, the owners' and directors' test requires any owner to submit to it, even if they are not actively running the club. So far, that has not happened.
An EFL spokesperson said: "Further to speculation in the media, the EFL wishes to clarify that it is not currently in receipt of documentation from any individual regarding acquisition of control at Birmingham City.
"All clubs are aware of the requirements under EFL regulations for prior approval."
Blues are currently Chinese-owned, by Birmingham Sports Holdings Limited - their second successive Asian-based ownership - who have been in place since 2016.
Who owns Birmingham City?
Blues were owned from 1993 for 26 years by David Sullivan and the Gold brothers, David and Ralph, with Karren Brady as managing director.
But any new owners now would be the third since the Golds and Sullivan sold out to Hong Kong-based Carson Yeung in October 2009 for £81.5m, prior to becoming the owners of West Ham United.
Yeung handed over the reins in 2016 to new Chinese owners, then fronted by Trillion Trophy Asia, part of Birmingham Sports Holdings Limited, after being sentenced in March 2014 to six years in prison on five counts of money laundering.
But Birmingham Sports Holdings Limited director Edward Zheng told BBC Radio WM in February, following the latest in a series of fan protests at the way Blues were being run, that they had no intention of selling the Championship club.
St Andrew's has been home to Birmingham City since 1906
What state are the club in?
Like all clubs, Blues have suffered from restricted revenue over the last two years because of the Covid pandemic.
The club banked an appreciable amount from the sale of teenager Jude Bellingham to Borussia Dortmund in July 2020, a deal that could ultimately be worth in advance of £30m.
But that came on the back of incurring losses of nearly £48.8m between 2015 and 2018 - almost £10m more than the accepted adjusted losses of £39m, which broke the EFL's profitability and sustainability rules and led to a nine-point deduction.
In their 11th consecutive season at second-tier level following relegation from the Premier League, Blues finished 20th in the Championship last season.
They won just four times from November onwards in 26 league matches - and they would have finished lower, but for relegated Derby County's 21-point deduction.
As it was, they finished 10 points clear of trouble but, had it not also been for Reading's six-point penalty, on top of Derby's, they would have stayed up only on goal difference.
The club also have an ongoing issue with the repairs and potential reopening of the lower tiers of the Kop and Tilton Road stands, which were closed throughout the whole of last season and have again been delayed by the ongoing takeover talk.
Blues start the new Championship season at Luton on 30 July.