Alonso: Nothing to happen until after weekend

IT is believed the takeover of Derby County by Spanish businessman Erik Alonso will now not take place until after the weekend.

It was announced on Wednesday that Alonso, through his No Limits Sports Limited company, had agreed to buy the club from current owner Mel Morris.

It had been suggested the formalities of the deal could be completed before the weekend but Alonso told Spanish media outlet El Espanol: “What happens is that the person who has to approve the operation is on vacation until the 12th.”

Alonso did not confirm how much he paid for the club but it was reported that the failed buy-out of the club by Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nehayan would cost £60m.

“A second-rate club in England is between 70 and 120m,” Alonso added.

“We had been talking to various clubs for a while. We spoke with Cardiff City and we spoke with Sheffield Wednesday.”

Elsewhere, Alonso has described himself as “boxing world champion” and has revealed he is closely related to World Cup and Champions League winner Xabi Alonso.

Alonso has amassed his personal wealth thanks to his family and several successful ventures such as owning vineyards and several football businesses in marketing and consultancy.

Speaking to Talks on Thursday morning, Alonso said he wants to bring the glory days back to

Pride Park.

“The club’s history speaks for itself,” he told Jim White and Simon Jordan on the radio, “so I cannot say anything else.

“Derby is a sleeping giant. We hope we can bring Derby back to old days. Normally what I say is, ‘don’t trust my words, but let me work.’

“I will prove my worth with my daily work, so they will see what we do.”

The Spaniard also discussed his famous relative, Xabi.

The former Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid midfielder hung up his boots in 2017 and cousin Erik is keen to carry on the family dynasty.

“His father is family of my father,” he added.

“I’m not exactly (sure of the link) because we don’t have a strong relationship but yes, we are family.”

On his Linkedin page, Alonso describes himself as: “A charismatic, pro-active, dedicated professional with great interpersonal skills, in depth knowledge of the professional sports industry and a passion for winning.”

He also labels himself a “boxing world champion” and has a page on the boxing website of record, Boxrec, which details how all five of his professional wins came by way of knockout.