CAS Trust was present at a Fans Forum meeting on Wednesday at which Lieven De Turck (who is leading for the club on takeover negotiations) gave an update on the situation and answered questions from supporters.
Lieven De Turck (LDT) said that the only issue holding up the takeover by the Australian consortium was that the consortium had not yet submitted all the required documents to the English Football League (EFL).
We asked for more specific information about what is still missing but LDT was not prepared to divulge this because of non disclosure agreements. However, he did note that the Australian consortium is a complex set up and that they are trying to reduce their complexity.
This may simply indicate that it is difficult for the Australian consortium to provide information quickly, but the concern is that there may be more deeply rooted issues arising from its complexity. CAS Trust will try to gain more clarity on this.
LDT also said that there was a second party with whom a sale price had been agreed but that they still had "certain issues" to resolve and they had not yet sought EFL approval.
This is worrying news. Although it doesn't rule out a sale being concluded very soon, the simple fact is that at this moment there does not appear to be anyone in a position to purchase the club, at least at the current asking price.
The new season begins in three weeks. LDT answered to the best of his knowledge a number of questions about preparations on the football side and, in particular, about efforts being currently made to reduce financial losses. He said that in the contract agreed with the Australian consortium there is a mechanism which reflects changes in the value of the club's assets brought about by player sales. Although he said that Lee Bowyer has a budget and is aiming for promotion there was little that he said that gave us any reason to feel optimistic about the season ahead if the club does not change hands.
The main points from the meeting can be seen here: