Dalman dismisses Cardiff takeover talk as 'fiction'

Cardiff City appointed Mehmet Dalman as chairman in 2013

Cardiff City chairman Mehmet Dalman has dismissed as "fiction" the idea that the club is close to being sold.

Former Wales and Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale has publicly stated that a consortium he is fronting has made offers to buy the Bluebirds, while there have been reports of takeover bids from a South Africa-based group.

Dalman admitted there had been informal approaches from potential suitors – only one, unnamed, which they are taking "seriously" – but said club owner Vincent Tan was not interested in selling.

The chairman also rubbished speculation that he himself was considering buying Cardiff over from Tan.

The Bluebirds were relegated from the Championship last season and begin their League One campaign at home to Peterborough United on Saturday.

"This has been fascinating work of fiction. Let me be very clear on the record, nobody from a South African consortium came to see me," said Dalman.

"We have not entertained anybody coming around to look at this club. We have never spoken to the regulators or EFL [English Football League] or anybody.

"I have never tried to put a consortium together to take over this. I have never showed any interest in taking over this club. I came with Vincent, I will probably go with Vincent.

"There is an attempt by a number of groups to try to buy this club on the cheap so they're pulling these stories out. We just need to kill them [the stories]. Our focus is to get promoted.

"I take one seriously. Are we pursuing it? No."

This is the first time anyone on Cardiff's board has addressed the takeover talk, which escalated when Bale revealed in June that his consortium had approached the Bluebirds about purchasing his home club.

The legendary former Wales captain then said in July the group had made a second offer, while South African businessman Gary Otto was rumoured to be leading a rival bid.

Dalman acknowledged their interest but questioned how serious that was.

"I guarantee you that every team that gets relegated gets approaches because there are people that they are looking for value purchases," he said.

"We always have approaches. Most of them are pathetic. Some of them have substance.

"Of course, we had approaches, but that's not a bid. You would be shocked how low some of the numbers have been when people have rung up.

"For me to me to take anybody seriously, I need to know who they are in their entirety. I need to know proof of funds, preferably by a financial institution of some credibility. I need to know who their lawyers are, and I need to know who their accountants are. Until they give me those four things, I don't have an offer."

Dalman has previously said that Tan would be open to selling at the right price.

Cardiff's value will have dropped as a result of their relegation last season, and the owner would prefer to sell in the Championship or, ideally, back in the Premier League, where they have spent two seasons during his 15 years in charge.

Dalman said there was a "cast-iron" offer on the table two seasons ago when Cardiff in the Championship but, even then, Tan was reluctant to sell.

"I would not want to sell at this level," said Dalman. "I would want to see us in the Championship, which is really where this team should be.

"We got really close two seasons ago when we were in the Championship and we had a cast-iron offer. And that was the closest we were to selling.

"The last valuation we did was about £40m. The reason why I think you can ask for a premium is this is a Premier League-quality stadium and a Premier League catchment area.

"It's maybe £50m if you stretch it. Let's assume a Championship [club] is £100m, do you want to sell it now? In the Premier League it could be £400m.

"So it's different dynamics, but I think you do not want to sell an asset when it's rock bottom."