Chris Wilder confirms Sheffield United takeover status | OneFootball

It seems like the deal is very nearly done.

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has confirmed that the takeover of the club is almost done.

Blades supporters have been waiting a long time to hear those words, and it does now appear that Prince Abdullah will relinquish his ownership of the club to allow COH Sports to complete their takeover.

The cost of the takeover: £105 million, as per The Star. That was the figure that was initially being talked about before the summer, and the Saudi prince has stuck to that number, even if he has wanted some changes to the bonus clauses of the deal given United's newfound hope of making a quick return to the Premier League.

He wanted an increase in the money that he'd be paid if the Blades did secure promotion this season, which was just one of the things to have held up this deal. The Guardian reported, at one point, that Prince Abdullah was refusing to sell unless this issue was sorted, and it was.

Now it appears that all the hurdles have been cleared, creating a bump-less path to the finish line for the prospective new owners.

Chris Wilder confirms Sheffield United takeover status

The Blades' boss has said that the takeover of the club is "close" to completion, as per Andy Giddings. The new ownership should open up a new world of transfer opportunities for United. Wilder added, in his pre-match press conference ahead of his side's match versus Cardiff City, that his targets for the upcoming window are "ready".

In late November, the boss publicly called on the two negotiating parties to provide clarity on the situation as the winter window approached.

The Americans appear willing to spend early on in their reign, but Wilder isn't going to go too over the top with things. The Blades will take a conservative approach in the new year and look to add more experience to the squad, Wilder said, via Giddings.

Another late twist cropped up on Thursday. According to The Star, the legal representatives of the American consortium, who are led by Steve Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy, changed, which then required all the documents and agreements to be re-validated.

This followed a statement by BBC Radio Sheffield's Rob Staton, on Monday, which claimed that all the documents had been signed and the takeover was done.

Huge relief will be felt by Blades supporters after Wilder's takeover claim

As much as the reporting on this saga has been accurate, it's always a good thing to basically hear it from the horse's mouth. Wilder would not have come out publicly and made a statement like that if he didn't have strong reassurances about what was to come next.

There were times when people doubted if this deal would be done in time for the January window. Takeovers like this one always drag on for longer than hoped due to unforeseen circumstances, but all that frustration is slowly appearing in the rear-view mirror. Now the Blades can fully focus and get on with their promotion push.