Bluebirds launch new bid to wipe out debts
CARDIFF City are looking to convert another £19m of debt into equity as part of renewed attempts to tackle their accounts, WalesOnline understands.
The club has issued 1.9billion new shares at 1p each, with the announcement coming quietly through Companies House on Tuesday. In principal, sources claim the move will effectively wipe £19m off the club’s overall debts, which according to their latest accounts stand at £109.5m for the year ending May 31, 2021.
It follows a similar move made in February, where owner Vincent Tan converted another £6m of the £61m owed to him after the club’s debts grew due to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Chairman Mehmet Dalman at one stage stated Tan had effectively to put his hand in his pocket to the tune of nearly £3m a month to keep the club running, putting the brakes on a pledge made by the Malaysian back in 2016, where he insisted he’d try and make Cardiff debt-free within five years. But this latest bid to convert further debt into equity suggests he’s perhaps keen to push ahead with that pledge.
Cardiff have been approached by WalesOnline for a comment.
It’s understood that while the new move will help to cut the club’s debts, in likelihood it will have little impact on City’s transfer efforts this summer.
Cardiff boss Steve Morison has already been busy in the transfer market, having brought 12 new players on board, and is still keen on bringing in a new striker before the start of the season, which kicks off with a tough home clash with newly-relegated Norwich City.
This latest announcement is unlikely to have any bearing on that search, although there is believed to be confidence among the hierarchy and Morison himself that attacking reinforcements will be brought on board, although it will more than likely be on loan.
Meanwhile Aaron Ramsey has been left out of the Juventus squad for the upcoming pre-season tour of the United States.
The Welshman appears highly likely to leave the Serie A giants this summer, with reports in Italy suggesting he could be in talks to settle the final year of his £400,000-a-week contract. Should such an agreement be reached, Ramsey would become a free agent, and attention then would turn to his next move.
The player himself is believed to be keen on a return to the Premier League. However, according to the bookies, Cardiff City, the club where he began his professional career, are the favourites for his signature.
SkyBet have the Bluebirds down at 2/1 to make the move back to the capital, and rate his chances of joining Gareth Bale in MLS at 7/2.
■ Fan’s View columnist Scott Johnson on Cardiff ’s forward options: Pages 50&51