Would-be new Sheffield United owners break silence on takeover as significant hurdle cleared in Bramall Lane bid

Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy have broken their silence on their bid to take control of Sheffield United after gaining “full clearance” from the English Football League to accelerate their Bramall Lane buy-out. The saga has dominated the news agenda over the summer, with a number of delays along the way.

But after arbitration with the league over their requirements, COH Sports - described as “a group of successful entrepreneurs, business partners and friends, established to invest in sporting opportunities” - has received “full clearance from the English Football League (EFL) to acquire English football club Sheffield United,” according to a press release issued this afternoon and have called for a “rapid completion” to the deal to allow them to support manager Chris Wilder in the January transfer deal.

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“COH Sports is now ready to assume ownership of the club and complete on the agreed deal that had been jointly submitted to the EFL,” the release added. COH is led by Rosen, the founder and chairman of Resilience Capital Partners, and Eltoukhy, who co-founded and acts as chairman of biotech company Guardant Health.

A joint statement from the pair read: “We are pleased to have secured approval from the EFL and thank them for their thoughtful engagement on the process. This was the last outstanding matter, and we look forward to moving forward to completion as soon as possible.

“Like all Sheffield United supporters, we want to see the club building on its strong start to this season and we believe that only a rapid completion will allow us to support Chris and the team in securing the best result in the January window.”

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A deal, worth in the region of £105m, was broadly agreed as early as the summer but the would-be new owners were unable to get it over the line before the start of the season, with a consortium reshuffle seeing Rosen replace previous leaders Tom Page and Dominic Hughes in negotiations with current owner Prince Abdullah. Since then the Blades have made a remarkable start to their promotion attempt and clever recruitment in the summer has increased the value of their playing squad.

Sources close to the current ownership have reported to The Star a feeling of frustration at the ongoing delays, with the suggestion that some of the finer terms of the deal - including the promotion bonus due to Prince Abdullah if the Blades do go back up this season - may be altered if the impasse continued. The odds on United returning to the Premier League at the first attempt - and thus becoming a much more profitable proposition - have grown hugely since the summer, when United’s prospects after relegation were much more uncertain.

Boss Wilder recently called for “clarity” about the future ownership of the club, with the January transfer window fast approaching and the Blades’ already-stretched squad hit further by the potentially season-ending injury to skipper Oliver Arblaster before the international break.