Former Barcelona striker Maxi Lopez inspected Birmingham City's pitch on Tuesday after he and his business partner agreed a deal to takeover Championship Blues.
Lopez has teamed up with Brum fan and businessman Paul Richardson, who first tried to buy the club a decade ago. Now Richardson, a Gymshark shareholder and ex-chairman, has succeeded after paying a £1.5million deposit and applying for official EFL approval.
The pair’s legal and accountancy advisors are undertaking due diligence on the books at St Andrews after exchanging contracts with Birmingham Sports Holdings Limited. They met Brum chairman Wenqing Zhao at St Andrews on Tuesday after agreeing to buyout City’s largest individual shareholder Vong Pech, who has a 21.64% stake.
The duo then intend to complete a £36.5m buy-out which will be staggered over two years with payments of initially £26.5m and then a further £10m. Their deal also includes an additional £10m payment if City, who finished 20th last term, are promoted before June 2026.
Laurence Bassini signed similar terms with Birmingham’s Far East owners before he was unable to pay up or get EFL approval as his deadline for exclusivity expired. His failure opened the door for Lopez and Richardson, who are long-term suitors.
The initial deal includes ownership of St Andrews which is in another company. The ground is partially closed for safety reasons and needs an estimated £5m spent on repairs which will come too late to be done now before the new season starts next weekend.
But City’s prospective owners hope to use the World Cup break this winter to make progress with some of the work which is expected to be completed next close season. Richardson will leave most of the football matters to ex-Barcelona striker Lopez, 38, who also played for, among others, River Plate and Torino.
The duo plan to meet with boss John Eustace, who was only hired earlier this month on a three-year deal, on Wednesday and sporting director Craig Gardner. Richardson , who is using some of his own cash plus external finance, said: “It is too early at this stage to think about the Premier League but we have ambition.
“I am a Birmingham guy and I feel for what the fans have been going through the past few years. This city deserves more than one team.”
Richardson plans to bring in controversial former Charlton chief executive Matt Southall, who he has known for years, to run the club.
Richardson said: “We need someone in this club who has experience in a tough environment. We have some tough decisions and we believe he’s the right guy to do it.”
Lopez, who has a base in England, added: “I think it's a huge project with this team. We believe we can do big work with this city and for our fans."
The pair want to invest in Birmingham's academy , which previously nurtured Jude Bellingham and use Lopez’s South American contacts to bring in overseas talent - but have ruled out a move for Diego Costa,33, as too expensive.
Other investors joining them down the line are possible, which leaves the door open for ex-owner David Sullivan , who has the option to sell the rest of his West Ham shares to Czech billionaire and shareholder Daniel Kretinsky. Current rules prohibit directors from running more than one club for fear of conflict of interest.
