Sheffield United: Update emerges on links to Premier League co-owner in takeover bid | OneFootball

The sale of the club has been seemingly dragged out a bit in recent weeks.

Crystal Palace shareholder John Textor will not be part of the prospective Sheffield United takeover.

Even though things have started to pick up a bit on the transfer front, with Callum O'Hare and Kieffer Moore being the most recent additions to Chris Wilder's squad, plus the expected arrival of Peterborough United left-back Harrison Burrows, the off-field matters at Bramall Lane may be what is giving Blades fans a bit more concern.

The takeover process, which has seen an American consortium attempt to buy the club from its current owner, Prince Abdullah, had initially progressed well, but things appear to have stalled a bit in recent times, making some doubt whether the prospective new ownership will be through the door in time to affect anything in this transfer window.

The identity of the members of the buying group, who were revealed, by The Star, to be ex-pats who were based out of Silicon Valley, California and were the founders of a capital investment fund, remained unknown for a while.

However, Tom Page - a Wolverhampton-born co-founder of capital investment firm Vertex Albion - is reported to be one of the people behind the deal, and rumours about his business partner, Dominic Hughes, the other co-founder, potentially getting involved have swirled.

John Textor not involved in Sheffield United takeover

The potential of another businessman from the States getting involved in the Blades takeover started to circulate among the United faithful after it was revealed that Textor, who holds shares in Palace, was going to sell his stake in the Premier League club.

Reports stated that he is still keen to remain involved in English football and that he had an eye on Everton, who have seen a couple of potential takeovers fall through, or maybe even a Championship side. The co-owner of the Eagles would not be able to become involved in another English club without first selling his shares in Palace.

The Star have said, though, that they don't believe the American is involved in the takeover, or looking at attempting one, at Bramall Lane.

While the current consortium who are looking to buy the Blades are believed to be football fans, who have a good understanding of the English game and its culture, and have been to see United play multiple times over the past year or so, Textor's involvement in football team ownership is on a different level.

Alongside Palace, he is a majority shareholder in French side Lyon, Brazilian team Botafogo and Belgian club RWD Molenbeek, as per the BBC.

Sheffield United shouldn't look to rush takeover as transfer deals swirl

This process has been going on for a while now, and it's understandable if the hold-up, whatever is causing it, is making those involved, from both parties, quite frustrated.

The new pair of hands that have looked set to one day take control of the club will have wanted to enact change and influence the Blades in their own way, although they have already done that to some extent by affecting proceedings surrounding the now expired contracts of Ben Osborn and Oli McBurnie.

They will have wanted to have been in earlier, because this is the time when the owners can affect the most change. But there's no necessity to rush things through as the Blades are in no danger of relegation.

Of course, the opportunity for promotion may not be capitalised on fully if the new ownership isn't in place before September, but an instant return to the Premier League was never entirely likely because of the huge changes that needed to be made to the squad off the back of last season, a lot of which haven't been made yet.

It will be frustrating, but surely doing the deal properly and making sure that there is a smooth transition takes precedent over completing it by any means necessary.