Barnsley’s Beane bid on rocks

THE proposed £20million Barnsley takeover — which features baseball’s Moneyball legend Billy Beane — may be on the verge of striking out.

Sportsmail revealed in August that the Championship club were in advanced talks with a Chinese-American consortium including Chien Lee, Nice’s billionaire majority shareholder, and US businessman Paul Conway. The group also involved Beane, part-owner of Oakland Athletics and played by Brad Pitt in the 2011 film Moneyball. It was anticipated he would join the Oakwell board. The takeover, brokered by British financier Alexander Jarvis, was expected to be concluded last month but the deal now appears to be close to collapse. Sources say there has been no contact since the group were asked for proof of funds about two weeks ago. Patrick Cryne, Barnsley’s owner, has cancer and says he expects to die before the end of this season. Jarvis, Barnsley and a spokesman for Beane all declined to comment.