Ex-Anfield tycoon’s son bids to buy Derby

THE son of former Liverpool owner George Gillett is in negotiations to buy Derby County. Foster Gillett is understood to have held talks with Derby owner Mel Morris about a takeover which values the Championship club at around £60million. Gillett Jnr, who was made a director at Anfield during his father’s acrimonious spell as joint-owner of Liverpool with Tom Hicks, was a guest of Morris at Pride Park towards the end of last season and the pair remain in contact over a potential deal. Morris took sole control of the club four years ago but has been alarmed by the spiralling cost of several failed attempts to win promotion to the Premier League, which have left Derby with losses of around £3million a month. He has been looking for a buyer since the middle of last season. Gillett and Morris had positive discussions before the deal was held up by Derby’s latest promotion bid, which ended when they were beaten by Aston Villa in the Championship play-off final last May. The club’s potential

Financial Fair Play problems and uncertainty surrounding Brexit have created further obstacles, and Derby have also had a poor start under new manager Phillip Cocu, winning only one of their first six league games. Morris (below) remains eager to attract fresh investment but with his personal wealth estimated to be around £550m he has no need to sell. Derby’s financial position is challenging, however, and they are in danger of breaching the EFL’s profit and sustainability rules if they are not promoted this season. Derby reported a pre-tax profit of £14.6m this year, but only as a result of a controversial property deal which involved the club selling Pride Park for £80m to a company also controlled by Morris, who then leased it back to them. That deal is being investigated by the EFL, who have asked independent auditors to provide a valuation of Derby’s stadium as well as those previously owned by Sheffield Wednesday and Reading, who have completed similar transactions. Morris has had talks with several potential investors in the United States and China, but has yet to attract an acceptable offer. Foster Gillett, who is managing director of the Colorado-based Booth Creek Management, was on the board at Liverpool during his father’s controversial tenure, but kept a low profile as the owners clashed with manager Rafa Benitez, managing director Christian Purslow and the fans. They were forced to sell up after three years having failed to refinance loans used to buy the club. Almost half of Gillett and Hicks’ funding for their £435m takeover in 2007 was provided by loans from Royal Bank of Scotland, which were placed in the bank’s toxic assets division three years later, leading them to sell the club to John W Henry. Gillett and Morris declined to comment when contacted by

Sportsmail last night.