Sunderland's interim CEO Tom Burwell reacts to club sale claim and stresses Kyril Louis-Dreyfus stance
Reports earlier this year stated that the club had retained the service of an investment bank to potentially broker a sale
Sunderland's interim CEO says the club's ownership is fully committed to their long-term strategy despite reports that they are exploring a sale.
Footbiz revealed earlier this year that the ownership group had retained the services of US investment bank Moelis and that potential investors had been made aware of the club's potential availability.
Tom Burwell said it was natural for the club to now draw interest given the global appeal of the Premier League, but played down suggestions of any imminent movement. He stressed that he was in constant dialogue with Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and that the ownership were demonstrating daily their commitment to driving the next stage of the club's development.
"I think I can talk about it a bit more holistically," Burwell said.
"The Premier League is the top football league in the world with 20 assets, so there is a level of scarcity that sits around that. We have complete connectivity with the ownership about where this football club is going to move forward. But we would all be naive not to say that people weren't knocking on ownership's door with all sorts of things, real and unreal, which sort of sits outside of Flo and I. But what we can say is that we continue to work with our Chairman every single day. There is a real connection between the two of us and the ownership in terms of, where are we going [in the future]?
"And what was really important to him was to demonstrate that you know... we're in year two of a capital expenditure investment programme into the stadium and the academy, behaviours that are of people who are here for the long term. So I think, you know, when we're talking to the fans we can say that connectivity remains."
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What Sunderland’s owners said about that sale report
After the initial report, the ownership group released a statement to stress their commitment to the club.
It read: "Sunderland AFC’s ownership group remains entirely committed to the Club, excited by a season of immense progress and the scale of the opportunities ahead, the Club is aggressively planning for its second campaign in the Premier League.”
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