Birmingham to confirm takeover in matter of days ending weeks of uncertainty

Birmingham are poised to announce this week that former Argentina striker Maxi Lopez and businessman Paul Richardson have agreed to take over.

The pair stayed patient in the wings while controversial ex-Watford chairman Laurence Bassini missed deadlines to buy the club. City’s Far East owners Birmingham Sports Holdings Limited have since commenced talks with Lopez and Richardson.

The pair have paid a £1.5million deposit and are set to do due diligence on the club’s books this week which the club are due to confirm. The move will end weeks of uncertainty around the Championship club after Blues’ largest individual shareholder Vong Pech confirmed he was selling his 21.64% stake.

Maxi Lopez is teaming up with businessman and Birmingham fan Paul Richardson to get control of the club in a deal which is close to be confirmed (Image: Reuters)

City’s board have proposed a £36.6m total sale with staged payments over two years. Bassini went public and hoped to get FA and EFL approval and the support of investors including West Ham chairman David Sullivan, who used to co-own Brum. He had been on the trail of Brum since last year.

But his failure to complete a deal let in a rival group headed by Birmingham fan and fashion investor Richardson , whose business partner is ex-Barcelona striker Lopez. The pair are both ready to invest their own cash into the club and run it as a shared interest split 50/50.

Other interested parties also stood back watching developments but Lopez and Richardson have seen them off.

Lopez, 38, used to play for Barca from 2005-2007 and has an extensive number of contacts in South America. His pals include ex-Chelsea frontman Diego Costa,33, who is a free agent after leaving Atletico Mineiro last year and was recently linked with Uruguayan club Peñarol.

St Andrews officials are now standing by to welcome Lopez and Richardson, who is a shareholder and ex-chairman of Gymshark. Birmingham only recently named John Eustace as manager to succeed Lee Bowyer on a three-year contract at the Championship club, who came 20th last term.

Despite takeover talks continuing, club officials felt they needed to bring in a new man to take charge of pre-season after Bowyer lost the support of senior players and Eustace could now be given a chance to continue under City’s new proposed hierarchy.

John Eustace took over at Birmingham earlier this month after Mirror.co.uk revealed he was poised for the job

Solihull-born Eustace said: “Short term it is going to be very tough. We have to build an identity that we are a tough team to play against and are hard working.

“We need the fans more than anything to get right behind the players.These fans , they deserve success and that is the plan.

“We have a lot of young players coming through. But my long term project for the club is to be as competitive as we can in the Championship and finish as high up the league as possible.”

Blues striker Troy Deeney,33, said: “There’s a lot of noise outside about what’s going on, so we are just trying to concentrate on our job and make this group as strong as possible.”