Reading FC takeover: Rob Couhig claim made as uncertainty continues | OneFootball

The Royals could be in line for new ownership sooner rather than later.

The Select Car Leasing stadium has been the epicentre of one of the most recent football ownership catastrophes. Dai Yongge's premiership as the owner of Reading hasn't led to much good for anyone associated with the Royals.

Hopes of a new day being around the corner have been present for some time, as reports linking many prospective new owners to the club have come and gone.

Former Newcastle United head honcho Mike Ashley was believed to have had an interest in taking over Reading, alongside other millionaires like Daniel Loitz.

The team managed to survive a second successive relegation to League Two last season, despite many factors working against them; points deductions being the main one of those.

Even with the reduced tally, on top of players having to eat microwave meals and days without heating in the offices because the club couldn't afford it, as per The Athletic, they battled through and steadied themselves.

A new pair of hands in charge of the club could be revolutionary for them. The latest update suggests things could be moving quickly on this front.

Rob Couhig's rumoured soon-to-be Reading takeover

The word on the street is that the former Wycombe majority shareholder is going to be, or has been, at the Select Car Leasing Stadium, ready to agree a deal to take over the club from Yongge, according to the BBC's Tim Dellor, on The Reading FC Podcast.

Couhig, who tried to buy the Royals' Bearwood training ground in March, was linked with a prospective takeover of the club by the Daily Star (Print edition 10/6; page 44).

The American sold Wanderers to Kazakhstan billionaire Mikheil Lomtadze in May, after over four years in charge of the Chairboys.

Initial speculation over his interest began in late May, when he was said to have been spotted at the club's ground on at least a couple of occasions.

The Reading Chronicle also reported, in mid-June, that he was leading the race to be the next owner of the Royals.

"I think that we'd welcome him with open arms," said Dellor. "He's a very bright guy; I think that he's a lawyer and an accountant. He's probably a sensible head who can come in and save the club."

BBC Radio Berkshire presenter Ady Williams then said: "Anybody that has got Reading Football Club's best interest at heart is what we want. Anybody who's got that in their heart, and really wants the best for the football club would be welcomed by every single Reading fan, open-armed, including myself."

Anything is better that Dai Yongge at this point

We do have to be much more careful about the intentions of people who want to own English football clubs these days. People like Yongge aren't, as has been proven, necessarily getting into it to make the team successful, which is probably the kindest thing you could say about his depressing tenure at the top of Reading.

But Couhig is a proven entity, a man with a good track record as the owner of a football club, and one that knows what it is like to win promotion from the Royals' current league.

The attempt to buy Bearwood will, understandably, have annoyed a lot of supporters, because of the callous, vulture-like nature of it.

It's up to individual Reading fans to decide if, for you, that is enough to disregard the American's advances, in favour of more time with Yongge at the helm.

Given what the club has gone through over the past few years, that seems like a fairly easy choice between the two.