Mandaric talks on-going: Advisors

Milan Mandaric’s advisors have denied that his proposed £25m (€37.2m) takeover of Leicester is on the verge of collapse.

It was reported this morning that the former Portsmouth chairman was unhappy after seeing the results of his accountants’ examination of the Coca-Cola Championship club’s finances.

The report claimed that the due diligence procedure unearthed considerable extra debt at the midlands club.

Shareholders voted unanimously to let Mandaric examine Leicester’s books at an extraordinary meeting last month and a formal bid had been expected before Christmas.

However, today’s report claimed the deal is now in danger unless the two parties can agree a revised price.

But a statement released by the 68-year-old’s advisors read: “Discussions between Mr Mandaric and Leicester City Football Club in connection with Mr Mandaric’s interest in the cub are continuing.

“The ongoing due diligence into the affairs of the club has raised certain legal and financial issues which merit further investigation.

“The club and Mr Mandaric are working together with their respective advisers to seek to address these points.”

Last month, Mandaric sounded enthusiastic as he looked ahead to the prospect of returning to football, saying: “It should be a matter of time before we can put this together.”

However, the Foxes Trust, one of the shareholders, claimed in November that £25m (€37.2m) was an inflated figure for the takeover as Mandaric was unlikely to pay off the £15.9m (€23.7m) loan taken out by the club to fund the Walkers Stadium.