Finance expert drops new Sheffield United ownership update | OneFootball

There has been a development involving the current and former ownership.

Sheffield United are undergoing a summer of change ahead of the new Championship season after last term's failings.

The Blades started the campaign as one of the favourites for promotion after reaching the play-off final, but started so poorly under Ruben Selles that it was up to Chris Wilder to return and salvage a 13th-placed finish.

In a bid to balance the books, the South Yorkshire outfit have allowed several high-profile players to depart, including Danny Ings, Tom Davies and Ben Mee.

Sheffield United confirmed the loan signing of Romelle Donovan from Brentford earlier today, and now there has been an intriguing update regarding the club's ownership.

Sheffield United owners miss payment to Prince Abdullah's team

Action Images

In December 2024, Prince Abdullah sold Sheffield United to COH Sports, an American-led investment group including Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy, ending his ownership of the club.

However, the sale of the South Yorkshire club was structured with payments spread over time rather than all being paid up front.

Late last year, there were reports of disputes over the remaining payments owed to the 61-year-old by COH Sports, with the threat of legal action.

Now, an instalment from the new owners to Prince Abdullah's team that was due at the end of June has also been missed, meaning about £35million is now claimed to be due, according to Kieran Maguire.

He adds that the former owners have now written to both the EFL and IFR expressing their concerns over perceived weaknesses in the OADT (Owners' and Directors' Declaration Test) and whether selling clubs to related parties could have implications for other deals where payments are made on an instalment basis.

How does this affect the Blades?

Action Images

News of missed payments should understandably trigger concern among the Sheffield United fan base, given the number of points deductions handed out recently.

However, Maguire has assured supporters by explaining why they should receive no such punishment.

Replying to a Sheffield Wednesday fan in the comments, he explained that no rules have been broken in terms of football payments, as the issue between the current and former owners is a commercial dispute.

He added that the club were previously in a promotion position and in receipt of parachute payments, which is no longer the case, and that COH Sports are a private equity firm and are essentially in it for the money, not football.

Sheffield United are expected to take a different approach this summer as they have offloaded several high earners from the books with a view to abiding by the new Squad Cost Ratio rules (SCR).

Whether this will be affected by the latest news remains to be seen, but the Blades are expected to be more savvy in the market and could lose some of their talent, with Harrison Burrows linked with a move to West Ham.