Football finance expert Dr Dan Plumley has said that Rob Couhig’s proposed takeover at Reading FC would be ‘excellent’ news for the club.
Couhig is expected to complete a takeover deal to buy the club from current owner Dai Yongge within the coming weeks.
Speaking to instantcasinos.com, he said: “Reading FC are an example of a club that are in desperate need of a takeover. We know how bad the financial situation has been there over the years and the friction between the current ownership group and the fans.
“There are no accounts available yet for 2023, but the year prior they were £80 million in debt and that is a huge number for a League One club, however big your infrastructure is.
“It’s clear they’ve had financial problems and with the owners, so when there are rumours and conversations of Rob Couhig’s bid – who has experience owning a club in and around that particular place in the League system – then that’s excellent news for them.”
Although welcome news for Reading fans, Dr Plumley stated that Rob Couhig will be doing his due diligence before making any rash decisions, and warned these takeovers can take a lot longer than anticipated with plans sometimes falling through in the latter stages of discussion.
“The caveat to that, which is what the fans need to be aware of too, is that these takeovers don’t happen quickly,” added Dr Plumley.
“If it is to be Rob Couhig with his background in the industry, he’ll be wanting to make sure that whoever the consortium is, they’ll have done as much due diligence as possible on Reading and make sure they know what they’re getting themselves into.
“You’ve then got to agree a price with the outgoing owner, who has been stubborn at the best of time, so there are a lot of hurdles still to jump over. On a much different scale we’ve seen that with Everton recently. We think a takeover is nearly there and then it collapses last minute because the risk is too high.
“It is positive for Reading given where they have been, but I think we’re a long way off from a resolution right now.”
