"We believe we can do big work in the City, for our fans and for the team." Birmingham had lost 37m in 2017-18. He was loosely linked to Spanish businessman Erik Alonsos amateurish attempt to buy Derby in the spring of 2021 but that probably boiled down to making a few introductions. At the age of just 17, Lopez made his senior debut for the club in 2001 and would then go on to make 70 appearances for the club across all competitions, netting 16 goals in that time. Richardson explained: Its myself and Maxi Lopez, its been quite well known for a while that weve formed a partnership and we will then bring in the right people in terms of CEO, CFO, etc. "I think it's a huge project. Whilst it is concerning that BSHL still owns 75%, the consortium clearly believes that it has an agreement to complete a full takeover over time. But no! The takeover by Richardson and Lopez will end months of uncertainty at St Andrew's, and allow the club to refocus on matters on the field. Maxi Lopez insists his joint takeover of Birmingham City with Paul Richardson is only being financed by their consortium. Much more of this and their fans might start to miss Laurence Bassini. An application has been submitted to the EFL for the prospective new owners to undertake the league's owners' and directors' test, while Lopez and Richardson are at St Andrew's on Tuesday to begin due diligence. We've been in touch with the EFL and they have offered us this: "Im afraid we are not able to provide any comment on matters relating to a change of control.". It remains to be seen where that goes next. ', Speaking to Sky Sports, Richardson said: "We exchanged contracts on Saturday after many months. This club need more than a spruce-up this summer. Midweek matches are also available to NOW Month members. In 2002, the year of their first campaign in the top flight for 16 years, lifelong Birmingham City fan Richardson joined their board as a non-executive director. BSH cannot just swap Birmingham for something else tomorrow, though. The HKSE is full of companies, like BSH, that have changed names and aims many times. As BirminghamLive reported on Tuesday, Richardson and Lopez are due to meet Blues head coach John Eustace today. Prospective new owners are also asked to provide a detailed business plan for the clubs next two seasons. As well as playing in high profile leagues such as Serie A and La Liga, Lopez is also well-known for his bust up with former teammate Mauro Icardi who now plays for Paris Saint-Germain. Such was his talent at a young age, European giants Barcelona came calling and in January 2005 Lopez made the move to Spain for 6.2 million (5.3m). But Richardson, who describes himself on his LinkedIn page as a passionate entrepreneur, has not stopped there. The lifelong Blues fan expects the takeover to be finalised within 'two or three weeks' after Laurence Bassini's failure to close a deal. The pair have waited in the wings while Laurence Bassini tried to complete his takeover. Birmingham City supporters have "got their club back" after Paul Richardson confirmed he and Maxi Lopez have exchanged contracts over a takeover. Ex-Argentina international footballer Lopez, 38, has joined forces with local businessman Richardson to purchase Blues from Birmingham Sport Holdings (BSHL). Birmingham City fans have called on soon-to-be new owners Paul Richardson and Maxi Lopez to retain John Eustace as manager. Birmingham Sports Holdings (BSH) has owned 75 per cent of the club since 2016, with a British Virgin Islands-registered company called Oriental Rainbow Investments owning 21.64 per cent. This stems from that fact that Lopez's former wife Wanda Nara, who he was married to for five years and has three children with, went on to marry Icardi. Maxi Lopez and Paul Richardson are part of the consortium hoping to buy Birmingham from current owners BSHL; Lopez was an Argentine striker that played for the likes of Barcelona and AC Milan; Richardson is a businessman in the fashion industry and a "lifelong" Birmingham fan. He also helped win two La Liga titles and the 2005-06 Champions League during his stint at Barcelona, although he only made 14 league appearances for them and never scored in La Liga. Richardson claims contracts have been exchanged and a deposit was put down on Monday. Maxi Lopez gives a brief word in English before breaking off to speak with Argentine media at St Andrew's.

Three years later, he was sentenced to six years imprisonment. Paul Richardson and Maxi Lopez are at St Andrew's to discuss their takeover bid and update supporters. And Richardson spoke exclusively to talkSPORT about the details of his purchase of the club, as well as how the Champions League winner came on board, on Tuesdays White and Jordan show. They won that leagues championship that year, a feat they have repeated three times since, but they have not won a top-tier title or FA Cup yet. But the best answer of all came from a Michael C in the readers comments. (Top Photo: Andrew Kearns CameraSport via Getty Images), Lopez playing against Icardi in Serie A in 2016 (Photo: Claudio Villa Inter/FC Internazionale via Getty Images), Birmingham City fans protest against the clubs owners at their final game of last season (Photo: Lewis Storey/Getty Images), Lopez scores for Barcelona against Chelsea in 2005 (Photo: Adam Davy PA Images via Getty Images), there have been no great leaps forward since then, Very little is known about either of them, and neither has been seen much at St Andrews, Jude Bellingham-inspired player-trading profits, attempt to sue Rochdales board and supporters trust. The new company, or companies, must have proven track records. After all, Southall is 37 years old and his only frontline job in English football so far has been a stint as chairman of Charlton Athletic that started in late 2019 and ended in early 2020. We will have to wait for EFL approval which may take two or three weeks, and then we go to completion.". This enabled them to avoid breaching the leagues financial fair play rules for a second time. Paul Richardson and Maxi Lopez intend to appoint controversial former Charlton owner Matt Southall as Blues' new chief executive. One source, who asked to remain anonymous, said the situation was hopeless, with the club losing more than 500,000 a month, 8million needed to repair the stadium, a threadbare squad and not much else to come in terms of transfer instalments (although the club has great faith in Jude Bellinghams younger brother, Jobe). He originally came to me, we formed a relationship and, with Maxi, hes all about football, he wants to bring football to Birmingham and to the fans.. That was their second year under full Chinese ownership and there have been no great leaps forward since then. Spells with Gremio, Catania, Milan and Sampdoria, amongst others, followed until Lopez finally announced his retirement from football in 2021. Bin strikes off during Commonwealth Games as workers accept 9 per cent pay rise, HGV drivers, refuse collectors and street cleaners employed by outsourcer Serco were due to begin strike action on July 28, Traffic chaos begins as drivers warned over busiest weekend ever - with roads to avoid announced. Sky Sports Football customers can also see each match streamed live on the Sky Sports app - simply sign in with your Sky iD to view and make sure you have the latest version of the app. Do we need to know anything else at this point? The details remain sketchy, as what was billed as a press conference at St Andrews on Tuesday was actually Lopez and Richardson stopping to chat with Sky Sports and the local media before entering the stadium to start what you would hope (for them) will be some thorough due diligence. 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Richardson also stated to media this morning that he and Lopez are hoping to conclude a deal for the Midlands club within the next three weeks. There is something, and it has already been flagged up by fans of several clubs on social media: Matt Southall, the man Richardson has lined up as Birminghams next chief executive. Drivers have been warned to expect huge delays on the roads as millions of journeys go ahead. Get the latest Blues takeover news straight to your inbox! Yeung, at least, seemed to enjoy owning an English football club. It now appears there is a British buyer after all well, a British-Argentinian buyer and they want the whole club. Reforms which came into force on Thursday mean parole hearings could take place in public for the first time. The consortium are set to meet the manager for the time today and supporters do not want to see them replace him with their own man just yet. Initially its a part ownershipand then we move forward over the next two and a half years to obtain the rest, but hopefully the official statement from the club will come soon, explained Richardson. Not bad, you might be thinking, considering that was a season played behind closed doors because of COVID-19 restrictions on crowds gathering and the clubs turnover fell from 22.8m to 13.7m. "We don't know at this point," said Richardson. Lopez also made a healthy salary as a player due to his big moves and contracts and has a social media following of over two million subscribers. Founded in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, Birmingham were founding members of the Football Leagues Second Division in 1892. On the contrary, under BSH, Birmingham have finished 19th, 19th, 17th, 20th, 18th and 20th in the 24-team second tier. But Southalls involvement in this potential takeover will demand further explanation from Richardson and Lopez, and probably the EFL, too, because the experience at Charlton, where the investment group he was part of started fighting each other within weeks, was very bad. Richardson was present at St Andrew's on Tuesday morning to discuss his joint bid with Lopez. Blues fan Richardson was one of the founders of sportswear brand Gymshark and he now owns fashion label Hera. When we spoke about this project before, we believe we can do big work with this city and for our fans.". If it did, BSH would lose its HKSE listing, and that is actually worth something.

The duo have been granted exclusivity to complete a deal and former Watford owner Bassini is now out of the picture. I think it's a huge project with this team. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player.

Matt, along with the CFO, will be reporting to myself and Maxi. Without wanting to turn this article into a guide to Chinese business practices, floating a company in China is quite hard. Very little is known about either of them, and neither has been seen much at St Andrews. Earlier this year, The Athletic wrote a story about how you value something as unusual as a football club. Last October, he bought fashion brand Hera London somewhat confusingly based in Gloucestershire, nearly 100 miles from the capital and the plan is to take it down the same influencer-led path to success as Gymshark. "We know exactly what we've got to do. "It's our money.

Michael is a fan of Broadway musicals, and Richardson is a fan of Birmingham City. You can read all about it elsewhere online. Southall admitted his wrongdoing and apologised. Lopez is more well-known in football circles having enjoyed a playing career spanning 20 years featuring spells at River Plate, Barcelona and AC Milan. Alongside Blues fan and businessman Paul Richardson, Lopez is the head of a consortium now set to announce that they will acquire the Midlands-based football club after ex-Watford chairman Laurence Bassini missed his deadline of exclusivity to make a deal work earlier this week. I was working for this for almost one year. The Athletic understands BSH has already negotiated a bonus payment if the club are promoted back to the Premier League within three years. Prospective new Birmingham City owner joins forces with local businessman Paul Richardson. How about love? He left AllSaints and Birmingham two years later, and returned to the world of waste management. Which should suggest to you that it did not go well. While this has fuelled speculation that the manager could be sacked as the new owners look to bring in their own man, Richardson said yesterday: "I don't see any reason at this point to change things.". He did not say how much they have paid for this but The Athletic understands it was 1.5million and that it is non-refundable. This service is provided on talkSPORT Ltd's Terms of Use in accordance with our Privacy Policy. His first British venture is Maxco Capital, a property firm set up in London in January. It was about honouring the memory of Arthur Lanbinjo-Hughes. That said, with relatively little known about Lopez's role in the takeover, both a sense of intrigue and concern currently surrounds St. Andrews.