The inside story of Sheffield United takeover saga amid transfer limbo, WhatsApp flurries and late twists
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Many of Sheffield United's various ownership sagas over the years have been so remarkable that an entire book - the excellent Fit and Proper, first released in 2010 - is dedicated to the subject. If authors Matthew Bell and Gary Armstrong ever consider writing an updated version, then the latest takeover episode would be well worthy of its pages.
The great Bramall Lane saga of 2024 fittingly reached its conclusion just before the festive season and to the Unitedites who had eagerly followed its every twist and turn - and even the ones who doubted its validity from the start - it had the feeling of a Christmas miracle. Even in its final stages the deal threw up surprises, with new owners Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy forced into an 11th-hour change of legal representation that only increased the levels of frustration for all concerned.
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Hide AdThis was the story of how one of English football's oldest and proudest clubs went, for the first time in its 135-year history, into American hands; how Prince Abdullah's eventful 11-year reign came to an end and how two English ex-pats played their part, albeit a lesser one than they expected at one stage.
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Hide AdThe Star spoke to various sources throughout the takeover process, all offering insight into, and updates on, the deal on the condition of strict anonymity, to protect themselves or their positions. This was the third time that Prince Abdullah had agreed a deal to sell his stake in the Blades, after two previous failed takeover attempts, and there had long been a sense that his ownership of United had left him emotionally spent and financially spent up. During the 2022/23 season, with United battling for promotion to the Premier League, several off-field suppliers went unpaid for months as cashflow issues hit United hard; there were also football debts that went unpaid, including money owed to Liverpool for striker Rhian Brewster. When United made a speedy return to the Championship after relegation, a two-point deduction was waiting for them.
There were some genuine doubts about what would have happened to United had their Premier League gamble not paid off and the stress of that season took its toll on both the Prince and his wider family, accelerating his openness to selling. Keen to avoid repeats of the previous farces after agreeing to sell to Henry Mauriss and Dozy Mmobuosi, he enlisted the financial firm Lazard, to both market the club and conduct more thorough due diligence. Lazard prepared the bait and a consortium of investors, initially reported to be American, were caught on the hook.
As we exclusively revealed back in June, the frontrunners turned out to be English expats; Tom Page, a Wolves fan who was born in the Midlands before moving to America, and his founding partner in the Vertex Albion Capital investment fund, Dominic Hughes. Page was a former professional poker player whose journey began when he deposited $25 into his online betting account and turned it into $6,500 within a month. The pair made several clandestine visits to Bramall Lane while negotiations were ongoing, drinking in the Railway pub a stone's throw from the ground amongst fans who were none the wiser as to their wealth or identity - despite Page's expensive coat costing around the average monthly salary in South Yorkshire.
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Hide AdPage and Hughes are very different characters. Hughes, originally from the pleasant Cathedral city of Salisbury in Wiltshire, was described as an academic figure, with a pleasant demeanour and an understated personality. Page, in contrast, was unpredictable, described as "egotistical and argumentative" if you encountered him at the wrong time and prone to big swings of mood at any given moment. His personality led to clashes during the negotiation stage, with one member of the delegation reporting once opening his phone to more than 150 rapid messages from Page on WhatsApp.
The situation was in danger of affecting the deal and the decision was taken just after the start of the season that Page would make way as part of the ownership bid. It was described by a source at the time as an amicable call, with Rosen - one of the previous money-men of the consortium - stepping up to a more front-facing role. It was not to be, however, Page's last involvement in the saga.
Against the backdrop of negotiations United faced up to the realities of life back in the Championship, with the substantial drop in income as a result negated somewhat by the receipt of Premier League parachute payments. Boss Chris Wilder, who had returned to his boyhood club the previous December to replace Paul Heckingbottom with the Blades already on an irrevocable slide towards relegation, hoped to begin his summer business early. Instead, there was effectively a deadlock amid uncertainty over who would own the club, who was calling the shots and, ultimately, who would pick up the transfer tab.
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Ben Osborn walked out of Bramall Lane at the end of the season having been told his contract option would be triggered, but it never was. Osborn, a left-footed midfielder who could operate equally as comfortably in a variety of positions including left-back, was effectively replaced by former Leeds man Jamie Shackleton, a right-footed midfielder who can operate equally as comfortably in a variety of positions including right-back. Striker Oli McBurnie left as a free agent, returned to Shirecliffe to train in pre-season and was left in limbo for almost two months before moving to Spain to sign for Las Palmas.
Incoming transfer business was equally hampered, with the bizarre situation of players who had agreed to move to United asked to sit tight until the finances of their deals were sorted out. Harrison Burrows' move from Peterborough United was the transfer saga of the summer, while United were only able to sanction the modest fees for the left-back and goalkeeper Michael Cooper, from Plymouth Argyle, after selling two existing players in Jayden Bogle and Will Osula. A deal for Cooper had been lined up months earlier but Argyle initially held firm over their prized asset, with United exploring other options - including a potential loan of Brighton’s Carl Rushworth. But patience eventually paid off when United broke Argyle’s resistance and paid a bargain fee for Cooper, albeit after the season had started.
In the end United recruited relatively well in the summer - although two loan spots were left unfilled - but no-one who watched a disjointed display in the final pre-season friendly, a 1-1 draw at recently-relegated Huddersfield Town, would have seen much to inspire confidence in a Premier League promotion push.
As he faced the media afterwards, Wilder appeared visibly frustrated and it wasn’t hard to understand why. The impasse had cost him some of his top targets and after resolving to change United's style of play, with four at the back and natural wingers, he started the season without any. Mikey Johnston was identified as a player of interest to operate on one wing, but United couldn't get a bid together and had to watch the Celtic man instead sign for promotion rivals West Bromwich Albion. Wilder was also keen to sign Tom Cannon, on loan from Leicester; the striker instead went to Stoke City.
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Hide AdAround the start of the season, sources began to speak with real confidence of a deal being imminent - a word that came to be redefined by this takeover saga
Around the start of the season, sources began to speak with real confidence of a deal being imminent - a word that came to be redefined by this takeover saga - and, crucially, in time for the final throes of the summer transfer window. That deadline, though, came and went, with no resolution - and a strongly-worded letter from the English Football League warning that only individuals officially employed by its clubs were permitted to conduct transfer business on their behalf.
The EFL’s increased scrutiny on potential new owners of English clubs also slowed down the takeover, with the consortium asked to provide a significant personal guarantee that any shortfalls in income, should the Blades fail to get promoted and therefore see their parachute payments reduced, would be covered. That hurdle was resolved after arbitration ended in agreement but only increased the possible financial liability for the would-be new owners, who had agreed a purchase price of around £105m earlier in the summer.
At that point United were facing the very real possibility of a relegation hangover and no-one was quite sure how the new season would go. Within the space of a few months, the investment looked a much safer bet when the Blades made a long unbeaten start and soon climbed to the top of the division.


But the deal still wasn’t done and the delay eventually cost Rosen and Eltoukhy - who was unmasked as Rosen's partner in the deal after an American delegation visited Bramall Lane for November's Steel City derby win over rivals Wednesday - when Prince Abdullah's camp wrote to them and indicated he was increasing the promotion bonus that was written into the deal.
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Hide AdThat move was possible because the Americans had not paid the Prince a deposit to secure exclusivity - although they are understood to have committed funds to support United’s women’s team - and it surprised Rosen and Eltouhky, who resolved to stick to their guns and try to push through the deal at the originally agreed price and with the originally agreed terms.
Two more deadlines then came and went, including one on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday period in America, with noises from both sides that the deal was approaching a make-or-break stage. But in truth both sides had invested too much into the whole saga, in terms of finances, time and energy, to walk away, and the bonus issue was eventually smoothed out. The Americans, keen to be in situ well before the January window and act on their long-formed recruitment plans, were so close to the Bramall Lane boardroom that they could smell its wood-and-leather opulence.
But neither party had anticipated a return to the saga of Page right at the 11th hour, with the Americans subsequently forced into a late change of legal representation which meant that the existing paperwork had to be resubmitted to the EFL and revalidated. It was a late twist that both shocked everyone but really surprised no-one, given Page's unpredictable nature, but added another delay to a deal beset by them almost from the very beginning.
The fact that the eventual takeover announcement, dropping into inboxes and popping up on social media feeds two days before Christmas, was met more with relief and indifference than excitement in many quarters was somewhat inevitable. The wait may be over, as Rosen and Eltoukhy acknowledged in their first statement as joint-owners, but they know that it is on their actions that they will be judged, rather than their words. After so much wrangling and negotiation, so many transatlantic calls and WhatsApps and more frustration than is possible to quantify, a new era has arrived at Sheffield United. And now, the hard work can really start.
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