Sheffield United: This is why proposed Henry Mauriss takeover never materialised

Mauriss, the owner and founder of Clear TV, held a series of talks with United owner HRH Prince Abdullah bin Musa’ad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Bramall Lane’s board of directors after agreeing a price thought to be over £100m.

But because he was using bonds rather than loans to fund the buy-out, it proved impossible to receive clearance from the English Football League who introduced a series of beefed-up checks following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sources close to the talks, which at one stage saw Mauriss granted a period of exclusivity by Prince Abdullah and his advisors, recently explained how the media executive even changed the bank he was using to help arrange the deal in an effort to satisfy the EFL - switching to one of the USA’s most well-known providers. Ultimately, however, that proved impossible with United privately confirming the deal was unlikely to proceed more than two months ago.

Mauriss, who saw a move for Newcastle fall through in similar circumstances before Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund acquired St James’ Park, had been granted permission to maintain regular contact with a leading member of United’s hierarchy throughout his talks with Prince Abdullah’s representatives. They are known to have helped Mauriss liaise with the governing body about his future spending plans regarding recruitment, which he was also required to provide ‘proof of funding’ for.

United were convinced Mauriss, whose company were said to be providing the security for the aforementioned bonds rather than the club itself, had the wherewithal to make good on his plan after requesting evidence themselves soon after contact was made. The two parties were reportedly introduced by a mutual acquaintance of Mauriss and someone who holds a position of influence at United.

Associates of Prince Abdullah - particularly those working at United World (UW), the organisation which oversees his portfolio of sporting interests - confirmed over the summer that he is looking to attract investment from outside parties. Before he took sole control of United, following a High Court battle with Kevin McCabe, Prince Abdullah is known to have met with the bin Laden family about the possibility of providing this. A media organisation, based in the Middle East, is also thought to have been approached soon after although again, despite some initially promising talks, a concrete proposal failed to materialise.

Mauriss’ deal for United did not extend to UW, which includes Beerschot, Chateauroux, Kerala United and Al-Hilal United as well as several minor league projects in the States. UW unveiled a group wide kit agreement with Italian manufacturer Errea ahead of the new campaign, which resumes when Huddersfield Town visit South Yorkshire on Saturday. United entered the World Cup break second in the table following a 1-0 win over Cardiff City. Town are bottom, only seven months after reaching the play-off final where they were beaten at Wembley by Nottingham Forest.