One-time prospective Newcastle United owners The Bin Zayed Group could still complete their takeover of Derby County, according to current Rams owner and chairman Mel Morris.
Derby announced more than three month ago that a deal had been agreed "in principle" to sell to Derventio Holdings (UK) Limited, whose ultimate controlling entity is Bin Zayed International, owned Sheikh Khaled Zayed Bin Saquer Zayed Al Nayhan.
In December, the club and Bin Zayed International issued a joint statement to say that the takeover was "on track" with a view to completion before Christmas.
That did not happen and there has been speculation that the deal could be off.
However, Morris has insisted that the takeover could yet go through, telling The Mail on Sunday : "It’s not finished.
"I can’t really talk about it because it’s under a very strict non-disclosure agreement so I can’t give you details on it. But it’s not finished…
"I don’t like to put percentages on it. There’s a contract between the two of us. That’s in the public domain.
"There’s a contractual obligation to sell and a contractual obligation to buy. You continue to have dialogue as much as you need to."
The Bin Zayed Group emerged as potential buyers of Newcastle in 2019 but the deal ultimately collapsed.
Newcastle owner Mike Ashley said in the summer of 2019: "The last bid, the one from UAE, he's a prince and he's got £38bn or £100bn, all these numbers — well, why would you even care what you're paying then?
"What difference would £10m either way make? You would want speed, you would want certainty, you would want the keys and to get on with it.
"I will not stand in the way of Newcastle United. I will not stop that, if it happens."
