“From Stadium of Light to Spotlight in Riyadh”- Saudi Billionaires Eyes Shock Takeover As Championship Sunderland Joins Premier League Gold Rush
Sunderland have won promotion to the Premier League after beating Sheffield United at Wembley.
Officially wrapping up the 2024-25 season, The Black Cats won 2-1 on Saturday as Tommy Watson’s stoppage time winner added to Eliezer Mayenda’s goal, with the Wearsiders coming from behind to win the Premier League final. Former Boro boss Chris Wilder was left distraught at full-time as the Blades were condemned to another season in the Championship alongside Boro.
As Boro lose their two nearest Championship rivals in Sunderland and Leeds United in the same season, there is now just one place remaining in next season’s second-tier line-up to be decided as Londoners Charlton and Leyton Orient battle it out in the League One play-off final on Sunday. Boro’s Alex Gilbert will hope to fire Charlton back up in that one.
Saudi boxing supremo eyes takeover
Saudi billionaire Turki Alalshikh is said to be keen to buy an English club, with reports suggesting he is in talks with Millwall. He’s recently shared posts from the club on his social media accounts and replied to one post on X from the club’s official account too.
Alalshikh will be familiar to boxing fans, with his involvement in that sport in recent years helping to lure huge fights to Riyadh. That includes both undisputed heavyweight title fights between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.
Now, with an estimated worth of over £2 billion, the Daily Mail claim he is keen to invest in a Championship club, with Millwall appearing to be the club he’s picked. Despite that, Millwall have denied any talks taking place and say current owners the Berylson Family have no plans to sell
Despite that, Alalshikh seems keen to complete the takeover, with former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan revealing on TalkSport that he’d held talks with the Saudi chairman of the country’s General Entertainment Authority and advised him to consider a fallen giant like Sheffield Wednesday, rather than the Lions.
The move wouldn’t be Alalshikh’s first venture into football. He owned Egyptian club Pyramids between 2018 and 2019 and currently owns Spanish side Almeria who were relegated from La Liga in 2024.
Jack Wilshere leaves Norwich City
Jack Wilshere has left Norwich by mutual consent, the Sky Bet Championship club have confirmed after he was overlooked for their vacant manager’s position. Wilshere took interim charge of their final two games of last season, starting with a damaging draw for Boro at the Riverside.
Sporting director Ben Knapper told the club’s website: “Jack made a big impact here in the time he was with us. He built great connections with our players and staff, and we’re all sad to see him move on. We were all very grateful for him stepping in as our interim head coach for the final two games of the season, but we understand and respect his desire to further explore opportunities elsewhere.
“He leaves with our very best wishes, and we’ll follow his progress closely. I’ve no doubt he’ll go on to have a very successful coaching career in the senior game.”
Southampton find their new boss
According to wide-ranging reports, Southampton have agreed a deal to name Will Still as their new manager as they plan to make an immediate return to the Premier League next season. Still is set to be appointed imminently.
Englishman Still made a name for himself in France during a hugely successful period in charge of Ligue 1 side Lens. It was previously confirmed he would leave the club this summer after rejecting offers from Sunderland and others last year.
Saints star to leave
While Still will be coming in at St Mary’s, the Saints are anticipating wholesale changes to their squad this summer following their disastrous season in the top flight. One player who has emerged with credit though is right-back Kyle Walker-Peters.
Out of contract this summer, the Mirror reports he will turn down a new offer because he has no intention of returning to the Championship. He’s expected to be wanted by West Ham and Wolves
Another manager ruled out as Hull City owner makes financial claim
Former Watford and West Brom boss Slaven Bilic has surged in the bookies’ market to be next Hull City manager. He came from nowhere to be odds-on favourite for the role at the MKM Stadium this weekend, but our sister site claim the Croat is not under consideration to replace Ruben Selles.
Meanwhile, in a sit-down interview with media this week, owner Acun Ilicali has admitted he would welcome new investors at the club to ease the financial burden of running a Championship club.
Ilicali said: “We have zero problem, and the finances of the club are very good. We are not the richest club, maybe I’m not the richest owner, but I’m one of the craziest owners, as I always say. I have the full passion to make this dream team better. We have limits. We almost passed our limits. Last year, we were over the limits.
“We pushed too much. Now we have to go down because it’s calculated over three years. So, one year you can go above, but if you cannot succeed (promotion), you have to go down this year. But this down is not a down that fans should fear because this down means our budget is still in the top ten.
The squad we have, I believe, is in the top ten. The salaries we pay are in the top eight or top ten. We are a top-ten team, budget-wise. When it comes to finances, the club borrows some money, it owes some money, but the team owes the money to me, so I owe it to myself. We don’t owe money to foreign bodies. The fans can be comfortable about the finances.
“In this life, sometimes it happens that my finances can go bad. This is a different scenario, but at the moment we are really OK. It’s hard, of course, but when you have the love, it doesn’t hurt you. But to be stronger, if you ask me, I will be happy to have some investors, which is good for this club. I don’t say that a one-man scenario is the best scenario.”
