Rangers takeover could take until mid-June to be finalised claims Dave King as he gives update on manager search

RANGERS fans are counting down the days until their club has new owners in the form of Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises.

But a man who has been central to the negotiations has suggested it could be June before the takeover is completed.

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The new investors have been buying up existing shares and the Ibrox club broke its silence on the developments for the first time last month after weeks of speculation.

Rangers said talks with 49ers Enterprises had been positive and from there, it looked like a case of when, not if, the deal would be confirmed.

Former chairman King, who has agreed to sell his 14 per cent stake in the club, appeared on talkSPORT this morning and provided some insight into how the new regime will operate.

One of the first things on their to-do list will be appointing a new manager.

And King reckons they will only have done some light work in that regard so far.

He said: “I’m not sure of the extent to which they will be applying their mind to the manager situation.

“There’s still a few things to be done, some pressing conditions and approval from various leagues to get the deal across the line.

“Yes, they will be looking at what they have to do, and they will have to hit the ground running because of the Champions League qualifiers coming up.

“If we say this deal realistically will be done in mid-June, I don’t think May is possible.

“But if mid-June is realistic and they are sitting firmly in the seat, it doesn’t give them a lot of time to start to get some business done and prepare us for Champions League qualifiers.

“So I’m sure they will be looking at a new manager but in terms of who that will be and who they could be looking at, I have no idea whatsoever.”

King insists he feels comfortable walking away from Gers after direct talks with the prospective new owners.

And asked whether they can help the Light Blues close the gap on Celtic he said yes – partly because they will be running the club with no emotional attachment to it as fans.

Kind said: “I think they can because I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved in discussions with them and ask them the question of ‘Why Rangers?’

“I get your interest in the 49ers and you’re expanding franchises, I see why football is a great business opportunity, we can see what you’ve done at Leeds United and the commercial revenue side, I can see that Rangers probably offers a better base to leverage that but why are you interested in Rangers?

“It’s Glasgow, it’s not London.

“But I got all the right answers about the football business and them being at Rangers for the long haul.

“The other thing I liked was, having been around the club for 25 years, I think there’s a disadvantage when the board of a club is dominated by supporters. You’ve got this doom and gloom where after you lose a game you want to sign players and sack manager and after you win a game all of a sudden everyone is on top of the world. I think the 49ers will be more calculated and more neutral.

“Their football and financial plans will be far more robust and tangible and it will be able to ride through the bad times if there is a period of poor results.”

But when it comes to how long that will take, King believes it’s far from an overnight fix.

He thinks Rangers need more than just a few players to begin competing with Celtic for the Premiership title.

King said: “If I look at the quality of what Rangers have got on the field, I don’t think we’re two or three players away from challenging for the league title, I think there’s a lot more than that that has to come in.

“I gave them an estimate of what I thought was required (in terms of funds), which was fairly substantial, and we managed to get a meeting of the minds on that where through this combination of existing shareholders selling their shares, a rights issue to put money into the club, that I feel they’ve made the right level of commitment.”

King added:  “About six months ago was the first time I chatted to Andrew to see if there was a basis for getting a deal done that would work for both parties.

“Along the way, as with any negotiations like these, there were times when it was touch and go.

“But if you ask me where we are in terms of legals being signed and terms and conditions precedent that still has to be fulfilled, I would put it at about 90 percent right now.”

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