Exclusive:Prince Abdullah sounded out over potential Sheffield United return as American owners plot Lane shake-up
Prince Abdullah sounded out over potential Sheffield United return as American owners plot Lane shake-up
Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad Al Saud has been sounded out over a potential return to involvement with Sheffield United, The Star understands, less than a year after selling the Blades to an American consortium. A deal between the Saudi prince and COH Sports was finally concluded just before Christmas after months of negotiating.
Prince Abdullah spent more than a decade involved with United, first as co-owner with Kevin McCabe before assuming sole control after a bitter High Court battle with his former business partner. But ownership of the Blades took its toll both emotionally and financially, culminating in a deal with COH frontrunners Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy.
The group have since welcomed a number of investors onto the Blades board but their hopes of helping the club into the Premier League were ended with a play-off defeat to Sunderland earlier this year, leading to the departure of Chris Wilder and the appointment of Ruben Selles in COH’s first big move in charge.
But it proved disastrous, with Selles sacked after just six games in charge and Wilder expected to make an emotional return to Bramall Lane ahead of this weekend’s home clash with Charlton Athletic.
Prince Abdullah sounded out over potential Sheffield United return as American owners plot Lane shake-up
And he is not the only familiar face to have been sounded out about rekindling their love affair with United, with the Prince meeting United chief executive Stephen Bettis during a recent international break.
Sources with knowledge of the situation have told The Star that amongst the items on the agenda was the potential of future involvement from the Prince, whether that be in an advisory capacity or in the form of a minority stake in COH and, subsequently, United.
A number of options are said to be on the table from the Americans’ side, but the process is still very early and there are no guarantees that Prince Abdullah will return to Bramall Lane in any capacity at this stage.
But he has made no secret of his desire to return to football at some point in the future and, knowing that no other would offer him the same affection he still has for United, had already privately refused to rule out the possibility of a partnership with Rosen and Eltoukhy in the future before the approach to him was made.
After concluding a deal the Prince met with the Americans and offered them some advice, also talking the pair through some of the mistakes he felt he made during his time in charge. Chief executive Bettis is the only member of the board with any footballing experience, with a sporting director role understood to be on the agenda as COH plot their next moves following the sacking of Selles.
Speaking shortly after selling the Blades, Prince Abdullah told Unitedites: “You should be proud of your club, you should love and support your club. It's a very special club. It has very special DNA. I wouldn't trade the ups and downs with any other club in England. I may one day invest in other clubs, but I will never love any other club like I loved Sheffield United."