"Fiction": Cardiff City chief sends clear takeover message - Championship sale revelation made | OneFootball

Cardiff City have been the subject of takeover interest throughout the summer.

Cardiff City chairman Mehmet Dalman has refuted any claims that a takeover of the club is imminent.

The ownership of the Bluebirds has been the subject of intense speculation in recent months, with Gareth Bale a notable name linked with purchasing the League One side.

It was reported in July that the former Real Madrid player’s consortium made a fresh offer to buy the team after their initial approach was knocked back.

However, that is not the only bid that has been linked with a takeover of the Welsh outfit, with the new season now getting underway.

Cardiff City chairman Mehmet Dalman sends clear Bluebirds takeover message

Dalman has addressed the supporters about the ownership situation, where he claimed that there is no takeover imminent.

He denied that any meetings have been held with a consortium from South Africa, and that the club have not spoken to the EFL or the regulators about a possible change in ownership.

"I am happy to be accountable to the supporters and the fans, which is why I am here today, to address their concerns, but I will never put a statement out because someone put a rumour out there," said Dalman, via Wales Online.

"Because it's fiction. I don't normally read fiction, but this has been a fascinating work of fiction. Let me be clear, no one from the South African consortium came to see me in Monaco or in Timbuktu.

“We have never, as a board, authorised anybody to come and see the stadium. Steve (Borley) as my colleague on the board, can confirm that.

"We have never spoken to the EFL, the regulators or the Welsh FA. I have never tried to put a consortium together to try and compete to take over this.

“I have never had any interest to take over this club. I came with Vincent (Tan), I will probably go with Vincent.

"There is an attempt by a number of groups to try to buy this club on the cheap, so they are putting these stories out and we just need to kill them [the stories].

“Our focus is to get promoted."

Dalman opens up on Cardiff takeover situation

Dalman has confirmed that there is a party interested in buying Cardiff City that they are taking seriously, but that his preference would be to agree any sale once the team are back in the Championship.

"We always have approaches,” he added.

“They see them, we get approaches. Most of them are pathetic. Some of them have substance. So the answer is, of course, we had an approaches.

"You would be shocked by how low some of the numbers have been. But I have to act in the best interests of the club, not in the best interests for anyone else.

“I'm not a shareholder, what the shareholders want to do is to is separate from me, although we talk, and at the end of the day, the board responsibility is to share the shareholders.

“I would not want to sell at this level. I would want to see us in the Championship, which is really where this team should be," he said.

“We got really close two seasons ago when we were in the Championship and we had a cast-iron offer. And that was the closest we were to selling.

"But there's been no offer [now]. There's been people talking about numbers, but no one's actually given me proof of funds. No one's actually going into an exclusivity.

“I mean, until you're in exclusivity, you're not engaged. The last valuation we did was about £40 million.

“The reason why I think you can ask for a premium is this is a Premier League-quality stadium and a Premier League catchment area. It’s maybe £50 million if you stretch it.

“Let’s assume a Championship [club] is £100 million, do you want to sell it now? In the Premier League it could be £400 million.

“So it's different dynamics, but I think you do not want to sell an asset when it's rock bottom.”

Cardiff finished 24th in the Championship last season, so will be aiming to gain promotion back to the second tier at the first attempt this campaign.

Cardiff are better off waiting until they’re in the Championship to sell

Dalman’s comments on the valuation of clubs changing depending on what division they’re in is a fair reflection of the reality of Cardiff’s relegation from the Championship.

If they are confident of getting promotion this year, then waiting until next summer to sell will be a lot more lucrative for Tan.

But it will be a difficult year at the top of the third division, with a lot of teams likely to be in the mix for a top six finish.

Bale seems quite interested in getting involved with Cardiff, which supporters will want to see come to fruition, so it would be no surprise if this is the serious offer that Dalman is referring to.