Sheffield United takeover state of play: Key figure's visit, Prince bonus factor and Thanksgiving pause

Sheffield United’s drawn-out takeover saga will enter another month after a resolution to the current impasse was not reached before the would-be American owners broke off for Thanksgiving celebrations this week. There was initially some optimism that this week could see the deal finally rubberstamped, with chairman Yusuf Giansiracusa - a trusted legal advisory of owner Prince Abdullah - making a rare appearance at Bramall Lane for Tuesday night’s 3-0 win over Oxford United.

Prince Abdullah had also pencilled in a trip to Sheffield for Friday’s clash with Sunderland to bid farewell if progress had been made this week. But the Saudi royal will remain in situ at least going into December, with the clock then ticking down quickly towards a crucial January transfer window as United look to get back to the Premier League at the first attempt.

A price that was first agreed in the summer, when United were still reeling from last season’s disastrous Premier League campaign and with real uncertainty over their future prospects, still stands more than a third of the way into the season and with the Blades firmly in the promotion picture. Under the terms of the proposed deal Prince Abdullah is also understood to in line for a bonus if the Blades are promoted this season, and insiders suggest that could start to increase if the wait continues.

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Despite suggestions elsewhere that Prince Abdullah doesn’t want to sell the Blades, he is understood to be still keen to do so - although there is a feeling inside the club that the saga cannot drag on for too much longer and that, as United’s Championship position gets stronger, his incentive to cash in and move on may be weakened. Relations between both sides are understood to remain cordial, there is frustration all round that a deal so long in the planning has still not got over the line. The ongoing delays are hardly helping the public relations impression amongst supporters for the would-be new owners Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy, either.

Their bid has been complicated by arbitration with the English Football League over personal guarantees they require from the Ohio businessmen, the frontmen of the consortium looking to gain control of Bramall Lane, in case the Blades don’t go up this season and suffer a financial shortfall as a result. The consortium has also reshuffled, with former key players Tom Page and Dominic Hughes replaced by Rosen as the figurehead in negotiations with Prince Abdullah.

Both Rosen and Eltoukhy were amongst a strong delegation from America who travelled to Bramall Lane for the Steel City derby win over rivals Wednesday earliert this month while Chris Wilder - the Blades boss who guided his side to the top of the Championship table with Tuesday night’s 3-0 win over Oxford United despite a minus-two point deduction in the summer for non-payment of transfer funds - used his press conference earlier this week to call for “clarity” over the future ownership of the club and how it will affect United’s ability to strengthen their thin squad when the January sales begin in less than five weeks.

“I think we all deserve credit for not letting that get in the way of how we work,” said Wilder of the takeover. “Maybe through experience, we've done that and getting on with what we can control. Which is the players' performances, recruitment in the summer and results, which we've tried to do. I believe we need clarity, I'd like to think that we're coming up to that point now either one way or the other. Stephen Bettis [United’s chief executive] has kept me in the loop as much as he can, and with whatever he knows as well, and I think we're on the same page with that.”